The US city where homes prices have jumped nearly 30 percent
Jackson, Mississippi, saw the biggest home price jump in the nation in the last quarter of 2024, according to a new report by Realtor.com.
The median price for single-family homes in the city surged 28.7 percent compared with the same period in 2023. Peoria, Illinois, followed, reporting a price hike of 19.6 percent, while Chattanooga, Tennessee, had an 18.2 percent rise.
Why It Matters
Skyrocketing home prices, stubbornly high mortgages and low inventory across the country have made homeownership an unreachable dream for many Americans. While President Donald Trump has promised to make the housing market more affordable by increasing supply and lowering mortgage rates as a result of boosting the U.S. economy, the year has begun with little relief for aspiring buyers.
Mortgage rates are still hovering around the 7 percent mark, and they are likely to stay there for a while as the latest job market report suggests that the Federal Reserve will wait before implementing the next rate cut. Home prices, despite cooling demand as a result of the affordability crunch, are still rising across the nation.
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What To Know
In an analysis published on February 6, the National Association of Realtors found that 201 out of 226 U.S. metropolitan markets—nearly nine in 10—reported home price increases in the last quarter of 2024.
Fourteen percent of cities registered double-digit hikes, up from 7 percent in the second quarter of last year. Ten of these cities, Realtor.com found, reported staggering gains of at least 14.9 percent.
The 10 largest increases were reported in the following cities:
- Jackson, Mississippi: 28.7 percent
- Peoria, Illinois: 19.6 percent
- Chattanooga, Tennessee: 18.2 percent
- Elmira, New York: 17.6 percent
- Fond du Lac, Wisconsin: 17.6 percent
- Cleveland, Ohio: 16.4 percent
- Bismarck, North Dakota: 15.8 percent
- Akron, Ohio: 15.5 percent
- Blacksburg, Virginia: 15 percent
- Canton, Ohio: 14.9 percent
Despite the vertiginous hike in Jackson, home prices in the city remained lower than the national average. Between September and December 2024, the median price for a single-family home in Jackson was $251,600. During the same period, the national median price for existing single-family homes was $410,000, up 4.8 percent compared to a year earlier.
The same is true for all the other cities listed above: In Peoria, the median price for a single-family home was $172,500. In Chattanooga, it was $346,700. In Elmira and Fond du Lac, its $167,800 and $263,800, respectively.
In Cleveland, the median price for a single-family home was $221,900. In Bismarck, it was $312,200. In Akron, it was $209,600. In Blacksburg, it was $311,900. And in Canton, it was $207,000.
What People Are Saying
Hannah Jones, a senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com, said in a statement accompanying the report: “Affordable housing markets have seen sustained demand over the last couple of years as the rest of the housing market becomes less and less attainable. Unfortunately, one effect of strong demand is climbing home prices, as was the case in these markets over the last year.”
She added: “The Midwest is the most affordable region in the country, which has enabled buyer demand to hold steady despite affordability headwinds. As a result, many Midwest towns have seen home prices climb significantly as buyers compete for available inventory.”
Lawrence Yun, the National Association of Realtors’ chief economist, said in a statement: “Record-high home prices and the accompanying housing wealth gains are definitely good news for property owners. However, renters who are looking to transition into homeownership face significant hurdles.”
What Happens Next
As rising prices and high mortgage rates continue to strain affordability across the country, cities with relatively cheaper housing markets—such as Jackson—are seeing a surge in demand. Recent Redfin data shows an influx of newcomers to the Mississippi city, with a majority of homebuyers coming from metros such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Dallas and Washington, D.C.
In turn, growing competition is pushing home prices upward, especially as the housing supply cannot keep up with the rise in demand, as in Jackson.
According to a recent report by Norada Real Estate Investments, the pace of new construction in the city “hasn’t been able to match the rate at which demand has increased.” At the same time, the existing home market is under more pressure.
Despite these factors, real estate experts expect home prices to decline in Jackson this year. According to Zillow, by September, home values in the city will dip by 1.7 percent. The home-selling platform Houzeo expects inventory to grow in the city and interest rates to drop over the course of the year, bringing prices down.
