Buffalo named hottest housing market in 2024: Report

Real estate

by Patrick Reilly

Snowy Buffalo is set to have the hottest major housing market in 2024, according to a report.

Despite its long, harsh winters, Western New York topped Zillow’s list of the 50 “Hottest” Markets for 2024 due to its affordability — making owning a home a real possibility for young people.

“Housing markets are the healthiest where affordable home prices and strong job opportunities give aspiring young people a real opportunity to buy in and start building equity,” Anushna Prakash, a data scientist at Zillow Economic Research, said in the real estate company’s report.

The typical home in the Queen City is currently worth $248,445, according to Zillow estimates — well below the national average of $347,415.

If a buyer made a 5% down payment for a typical Buffalo home, the mortgage would be $1,792, according to the report. Typical rental costs $1,257 per month.

Zillow measured the projected demand for housing in Buffalo by comparing the number of new jobs being created in the city to the number of new homes being built.

Of the 50 cities the company analyzed, Buffalo had the highest number of jobs per new housing unit — which is expected to cause home prices to rise unless additional units are built to match demand.

Charlotte was named the hottest housing market on Zillow in 2023 — when housing costs reached a record high for buyers and renters across the country.

Behind Buffalo in this year’s rankings are the Midwestern cities of Cincinnati and Columbus, Ohio.

“Inventory is moving very quickly in Cincinnati, and Columbus is home to the fastest projected rise in owner-occupied households, an indicator of household formation and population growth,” Zillow found.

About 276,000 people live in Buffalo as of the 2020 Census, but it was once home to more than twice that number in 1950 when the population peaked at 580,000 before the flight of industrial jobs and the city’s decline.

In October, New York State Sen. Chuck Schumer announced that the Buffalo-Rochester-Syracuse region would be declared a federal “technology hub” under the CHIPES and Science Act, and would receive billions in federal funding to make the region a manufacturing hub.

The city is also home to several universities – including the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State University, both SUNY institutions – and of course the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Due to its location on Lake Erie, the city is known for its snow. Buffalo received 133.6 inches of snow in 2022-23, according to the National Weather Service.