Study: Kansas City, MO Ranked Hottest Housing Market in U.S.

Posted September 3, 2024

A study by U.S. News & World Report shows Kansas City is the hottest housing market.

Kansas City, Missouri and Austin, Texas tied for No. 1 for the hottest housing market, according to U.S. News & World Report. The two cities received a score of 72.8 on the U.S. News Housing Market Index, which uses a wide array of data points.

The top five metropolitan areas with the hottest housing markets:
(rank/msa/index score)

1 (Tie). Austin-Round Rock, TX:  72.8
1 (Tie). Kansas City, MO:  72.8
2. Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD:  72
3. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA:  71.9
4. Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX:  71.8
5. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO:  71.1

The study also found Kansas City was among a group of markets that improved the most between December 2023 and June 2024 including Denver; Durham, North Carolina; North Port, Florida and Philadelphia.

The Kansas City market also improved year-over-year through June with the addition of 15,000 new jobs. The metropolitan area’s unemployment rate was 3.5% in May and climbed to 3.8% in June, still below the national rate of 4.1%.

“In the lower price ranges it’s very difficult, and buyers keep getting shut out due to too much competition,” Cindy Cunningham, a broker associate with BHG Kansas City Homes and current president of the Kansas City Regional Association of Realtors, said in the study. “I’ve been in this business for 27 years, and there’s not much for sale under $250,000 or $300,000.”