Insurify’s 2021 Best Up & Coming Housing Markets Awards

Demand for real estate reached historic heights across the nation over the past year, and these 50 cities are on track to be the most sought-after in their respective states by potential homebuyers.

Housing markets across the United States experienced an unprecedented surge in demand shortly after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, continuing into 2021. For those with the means to do so, buying a home has been top of mind over the past year, and some real estate markets across the nation are hotter than ever. Cities that may not have been at the front of the radar for homebuyers in the past are becoming more coveted than ever. Homebuyers know better than anyone that timing is everything, and in certain cities, there is no better time to start looking than now.

The future can be unpredictable, especially when it comes to real estate. Even well-established, perennially popular real estate markets can see slowed growth, or worse, can find themselves on the decline. Yet, a select few cities have housing markets that are not only on the rise recently but also have established themselves as some of the next great homebuyer hotspots. These cities have experienced impressive growth in real estate demand and are predicted to only go up in the future. With their growing popularity and rising desirability, these cities are the best up & coming housing markets in 2021.

Selection Process for Insurify’s 2021 Up & Coming Housing Markets Awards

The data scientists at Insurify, a home insurance comparison site, referred to data from Zillow to identify the cities whose real estate markets are on the rise this year. Cities were assigned composite scores by a proprietary scoring algorithm based on the factors below: 

• Relative change in home value between 2011 and 2021. 
• Average monthly change in home value from 2020 to 2021. 
• Average monthly change in median home sale price from 2020 to 2021. 
• Zillow’s 2022 home value forecast.

For each state, Insurify’s data scientists selected the city with the highest overall score as the winner of the 2021 Up & Coming Housing Markets Awards.

Winners of Insurify’s 2021 Up & Coming Housing Markets Awards

Alabama: Huntsville

Alaska: Fairbanks

Arizona: Show Low

Arkansas: Fayetteville

California: Merced

Colorado: Colorado Springs

Connecticut: New Haven

Delaware: Dover

Florida: Lake City

Georgia: Jefferson

Hawaii: Kapaa

Idaho: Coeur d’Alene

Illinois: Rochelle

Indiana: South Bend

Iowa: Ames

Kansas: Lawrence

Kentucky: Bardstown

Louisiana: Opelousas

Maine: Augusta

Maryland: California-Lexington Park

Massachusetts: Barnstable

Michigan: Detroit

Minnesota: Brainerd

Mississippi: Grenada

Missouri: Warrensburg

Montana: Kalispell

Nebraska: Omaha

Nevada: Carson City

New Hampshire: Manchester

New Jersey: Ocean City

New Mexico: Taos

New York: Hudson

North Carolina: Boone

North Dakota: Fargo

Ohio: Dayton

Oklahoma: Tulsa

Oregon: Astoria

Pennsylvania: East Stroudsburg

Rhode Island: Providence

South Carolina: Charleston

South Dakota: Rapid City

Tennessee: Sevierville

Texas: Austin

Utah: Ogden

Vermont: Barre

Virginia: Winchester

Washington: Aberdeen

West Virginia: Morgantown

Wisconsin: Oshkosh

Wyoming: Jackson

If you have any questions or comments about this article, please contact insights@insurify.com.

Insurify Insights

Insurify’s team of data scientists and content specialists presents Insurify Insights, a series of automotive, home, and health studies focusing on the topics that impact us all. Through expert analysis of over 4 million car insurance applications and an array of top data sources, the Insurify Insights team produces new data-driven articles, trend analyses, regional superlatives, and national rankings every week. See Insurify Insights as featured in Forbes, Fox News, USA Today, NPR, and more.