Sun Belt cities dominate 2026 best housing markets, Texas leads list

Key Points:

• WalletHub's 2026 Best Real Estate Markets report highlights Frisco, Texas, as the top city for real estate, followed by McKinney, Texas, with strong housing-market fundamentals and economic conditions driving their rankings.
• Texas and Sun Belt cities dominate the top rankings due to factors like home-price appreciation, new housing construction, building permits, affordability, and job growth.
• Major coastal cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco rank much lower due to high housing costs and limited supply growth, making homeownership less attainable despite strong economic opportunities.
• The study emphasizes the importance of a combination of healthy housing fundamentals and supportive economic conditions over affordability alone in determining market strength.
• New Orleans and Baltimore rank at the bottom, signaling potential challenges like slower home-price growth and difficulties in attracting buyers, which could impact homeowners' equity and selling prospects.