Home values soared in these 10 cities

A Realtor.com analysis of the top 100 U.S. metros finds 10 cities—evenly split between the South and Northeast—posted the largest home-value gains since October 2019, led by Knoxville, Tenn. (+86%, roughly $190,000) and Fayetteville, Ark. (+84.5%, roughly $195,000) with the top ten ranging from about +73% to +86% (including Charleston, Scranton, Syracuse, Portland ME, Rochester, New Haven, Charlotte and Chattanooga). Economists attribute the outsized appreciation to strong sales volumes, pandemic-driven migration and supply shortages in these markets. That said, Zillow data shows more than half of U.S. homes lost value over the past year, though most homeowners retain significant equity and researchers characterize current trends as a normalization rather than a market crash.

Analysis

Realtor.com economists identified 10 U.S. metros — evenly split between the South and Northeast — as the top home-value gainers from October 2019 to October 2025, led by Knoxville, TN (+86%, ~ $190,000) and Fayetteville, AR (+84.5%, ~ $195,000) with the top ten ranging roughly +73% to +86% (including Charleston, Scranton, Syracuse, Portland ME, Rochester, New Haven, Charlotte and Chattanooga).

Realtor.com senior economist Joel Berner attributes these outsized local gains to high sales volumes and supply constraints that cannot meet demand, and pandemic-era migration concentrated buyers in certain metros. By contrast, Zillow reports that more than half of U.S. homes lost value over the past year — the largest share in over a decade — but Zillow senior researcher Treh Manhertz notes relatively few homes sold at a loss and that most owners still hold significant equity, characterizing current dynamics as a normalization rather than a crash.

The result is a clear divergence between localized outperformers and a weakening national picture: the six-year appreciation in these metros reflects idiosyncratic demand and constrained supply rather than broad-based strength. Investors should therefore treat opportunities in these markets as market-specific plays tied to local sales, inventory and migration trends, while recognizing macro-level downside risk from recent widespread depreciation and affordability pressures.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Consider selective, concentrated exposure to housing-related investments that have geographic focus in the top-performing metros (e.g., Knoxville, Fayetteville, Charleston, Charlotte) where values rose ~72–86% since Oct 2019, but cap position sizes to avoid regional concentration risk
• Prioritize monitoring of the cited leading indicators — local sales volume, inventory/supply constraints and migration flows — before increasing exposure, because Realtor.com links those factors directly to outperformance
• Use hedges or maintain higher liquidity for housing allocations given Zillow's signal that more than half of U.S. homes fell in value last year and that current dynamics are a normalization, not a guaranteed sustained upswing
• Avoid broad national housing bets; favor bottom-up, market-specific underwriting and stress-test assumptions against both continued local demand and the possibility of further regional price normalization