The 3 Best States to Buy a Home in the Next 5 Years, According to Real Estate Experts

There’s no way around it: The housing market is in dire shape, with a lack of supply forcing buyers to pay more out of pocket to remain competitive in a seller-friendly environment.

The good news? Real estate will likely continue to appreciate in value, making it a good investment. And if that’s a priority, then you might want to consider shopping in markets that some pundits are predicting will see big gains in the coming years.

Recently, financial planning and advice site GOBankingRates surveyed some real estate experts on the locations where they expect to see the biggest gains in the next five years. While this is purely speculative, it does offer some intriguing insight into some potentially undervalued regions.

1. Ohio
2. Florida
3. New York

Ohio

The Midwest state has not traditionally been a thriving housing market, but experts who spoke with GOBankingRates believe that’s changing. For one thing, median home prices (about $255,200) are roughly two-thirds of the national average, leaving plenty of room for growth.

More importantly, the state boasts something highly coveted at the moment: affordability. The cost of living is roughly 11 percent lower than the national average. And job opportunities in hubs like Toledo and Columbus are growing. That, coupled with low state income and sales tax, could see an increasing number of people migrating to the Buckeye State.

While experts see Ohio as a site for long-term benefit, it’s not exactly a secret. Recently, real estate listings site Realtor.com named Columbus as the most popular market in the country.

Florida

Real estate agent Austin Hair told the site that Florida remains an attractive real estate opportunity despite seeing some slowdown in value appreciation over the past year. His rationale: The state’s lack of income tax and appealing weather remain a draw for people relocating. So long as people continue moving there, Hair reasoned, property values will continue to climb.

Still, Florida has been besieged as of late by concerns over ruinous weather events as well as rising insurance costs. According to one estimate, 20 percent of Floridians pay over $4000 in insurance premiums annually. Whether that impacts the real estate market long-term remains to be seen, though advocates like Hair reason that there will always be enough demand in the state to outpace concerns.

The current median price of a Florida home is $402,900, with 29 percent more homes on the market as of September 2024 than the same point last year.

New York

Few would argue that New York has traditionally been a solid real estate performer, and its inclusion seems a little too obvious. But experts believe that property values in the state will grow for some specific reasons. While some are proceeding with caution in Florida thanks to destructive weather, New York’s relative lack of climate concerns may drive more people into the state.

“The populations of the Hudson Valley, Catskills, and Adirondacks regions are composed of many people who love the outdoors and are generally climate-conscious, so to speak,” said associate broker Angelica Ferguson VonDrak. “Because of this, there are many climate initiatives in place in the various locales and local denizens live in an ecologically thoughtful way.”

It's important to note, however, that there’s no such thing as a region completely immune to extreme weather: New Yorkers can still be affected by floods, for example. And if cities grow as a result of the “climate-concerned” moving in, their infrastructure may be strained.

The “hottest” real estate markets—or those with the most potential—are highly subjective. U.S. News & Word Report recently declared cities like Denver, Colorado, and Durham, North Carolina, as markets to watch owing to favorable conditions; CNBC concurred that Florida is a top state, followed by South Carolina and Arizona. Ultimately, the best market is the one you want to live in.

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