Fully half of the nation’s top twenty hottest markets are in the West, according to a new survey, with metro areas in Arizona and Colorado making up five of those markets.
The report, just published by US News & World Report, employs what it calls a “housing market index” with zero being as bad as it can get and 100 representing a sort of realtor heaven. To that end, it gives the continually booming Denver-Aurora-Lakewood metro area a 71.5 rating, placing it at number 5 in the top twenty.
The Denver area was particularly high rated due to its ongoing demand for housing and overall financial health. The area received a decidedly lower index mark, at 55.8, for its current available housing supply.
Coming in at number eight is the city of Greeley, which received an overall 70.3 index reading for both its housing demand and financial health, but, like the Denver area, was somewhat pulled down for a 49.3 housing supply mark.
Number thirteen on the list is the rapidly growing Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale market, with a 68.2 rating. Like the Colorado boom spots, metro Phoenix enjoys a healthy index reading, in this case in the mid-70s, for its housing demand and financial health, while scoring only 55.2 in the housing supply category.
Fort Collins placed a solid number 17 on the list with an overall 66.1 index. That index also saw strong numbers in the housing demand and financial health categories, but, like metro Denver, a relatively low housing supply mark at 49.5.
The final Colorado market on the top twenty sees Colorado Springs at 19, with an overall 65.5 index reading. The central Colorado city scored the exact same housing demand and financial health numbers at 76.8, but a substantially low 35.3 in the housing supply category.
Exhibiting the dynamism of all of the Colorado and Arizona markets, the US News & World Report document shows a substantially lower overall national score of 66.6, with both the nation’s housing demand and housing supply in the low 60s.
In appraising all of the market trends nationally, the report noted that the essential metrics defining a hot housing market center on “local demand, supply, and financial considerations.”
In addition, the hottest markets share “big-city amenities without the high housing costs of Metropolitan Statistical Areas closer to the megacities along the West and East costs.”
April 1, 2025
By Garry Boulard
Photo courtesy of Pixabay
