10 Most Resilient Housing Markets

The U.S. housing market is seeing less activity because of high costs and ongoing economic challenges, but some metro areas are proving to be more resilient to uncertain market conditions than others.

A recent analysis of the 50 largest U.S. metros from housing marketing platform Redfin found that the Rust Belt is leading the way in market resilience, with six of the ten strongest metro areas located there.

These cities are holding up the best

The analysis found Milwaukee to be the most market resilient, with home sales up 12% year-over-year, home prices up by 8.2%, and the typical seller receiving more than their listing price. Chicago follows closely behind, with Philadelphia, Minneapolis, New York City, Cincinnati, Detroit, Newark, N.J., Pittsburgh, and Virginia Beach, Va., filling out the top 10.

In these markets, home prices increased by an average of 5.9% year-over-year compared to  just 0.5% nationwide. However, most of the top 10 metros offer homes prices that are lower than the national median, a likely factor in their ability to attract buyers. Home sales are up by 6.4% year-over-year on average in these 10 metros compared with a 3.8% increase seen nationwide.

These cities were found to be the least market resilient

Many of the markets found to be the least resilient to uncertain conditions are in the Sun Belt. This region grew in popularity during the pandemic housing boom, causing both home sales and home building activity to surge. Now, however, these metros are seeing demand taper off.

Homebuying demand in Las Vegas is cooling the fastest. In this city, home sales fell by 10.2% year-over-year, and inventory is up by 44.8%. Other slowing housing markets include Sacramento, Calif., Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Orlando, Fla., San Diego, Miami, Seattle, Washington, D.C., and Oakland, Calif.

Rust Belt markets may be seeing a lot of activity, but buyer demand overall continues to fall flat

• Active Listings Rise, but Most Buyers Won’t Take the Bait: In early 2025, active listings rose by more than 7% nationwide due to a lack of buyer activity.
• With Less Buyer Competition, Down Payments Begin to Drop: Weak buyer demand caused the typical down payment to decline by $2,400 quarter-over-quarter in the fall of 2024.