Housing News

These 12 Housing Markets Experienced the Largest Price Hikes Since the Pandemic

August 29, 2024

Unlike just about every other sector of the economy, the housing market was supercharged by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Record-low mortgage rates, the rapid rise of remote work, and more people stuck in their homes wanting more space, unleashed unheard-of demand in formerly steady housing markets across the country. That led home prices to hit new heights across the country.

ResiClub, a housing news and research company, recently crunched the numbers to identify the markets with the largest price hikes since March 2020. These places are often close to natural amenities and have attracted remote workers seeking more space. Many are lower-cost alternatives to larger cities.

“The places that [prices] went up the most are the places that benefited from the work-from-home shift and people chasing affordability,” said ResiClub Editor-in-Chief Lance Lambert.

Knoxville, Tennessee, topped the list as the largest market with the steepest home appreciation. Home prices in the metro have increased 74.3% since March 2020.

Lambert attributes Knoxville’s steep increase to the same factors that drove demand in small ski and resort areas. The city is a quick drive from the Smoky Mountains and surrounded by lakes, rivers, and quarries that are popular with paddlers.

Knoxville is also home to the University of Tennessee and its roughly 35,000 students.

“There are a lot of lakes surrounding Knoxville. People are interested in that market because it is kind of vacation-y,” Lambert said. “You can have that mountain home feel and still be in a reasonably sized market.”

ResiClub’s complete list included 50 markets, many of them smaller places with very limited numbers of homes for sale. This lack of housing inventory often keeps prices high.

We only included the 12 markets that fell within the largest 300 markets by population. This excluded most of the smaller markets on the original ResiClub list.

So, where are prices up the most since the start of the pandemic?

1. Knoxville, TN - Home price increase since March 2020: 74.3%

2. East Stroudsburg, PA - Home price increase since March 2020: 73.5%

3. Kingston, NY - Home price increase since March 2020: 71.1%

4. Naples, FL- Home price increase since March 2020: 70%

5. Atlantic City, NJ - Home price increase since March 2020: 68.6%

6. Barnstable Town, MA (Cape Cod) - Home price increase since March 2020: 67.5%

7. Torrington, CT - Home price increase since March 2020: 66.7%

8. Concord, NH - Home price increase since March 2020: 66%

9. Burlington, NC - Home price increase since March 2020: 65.6%

10. Bangor, ME - Home price increase since March 2020: 65.5%

11. Hilton Head, SC - Home price increase since March 2020: 65.2%