Which metro areas are the best to raise a family in 2024?

Where is the best place in the U.S. to raise a family?

According to a recent study from Wallethub, the best place in the U.S. to raise a family is not a sleepy Midwestern town. Fremont, CA may be a bit off the beaten path, but it claimed the top spot as the best place to raise a family.

The list measured 45 different factors to determine the best location to watch your kids grow. Key factors included cost of housing, the quality of schools and health care, job markets, and opportunities for fun and recreation.

Fremont, CA took the top score for education and childcare, and socio-economics. It also came in 11^th place out of 182 for affordability.

However, the most affordable metro area on the list actually came in 2^nd place overall. Overland Park, KS was the most affordable area to raise a family, and the median home price in the area in April 2024 was $654,000. That may seem steep, but it’s the median price. There are more affordable homes in the area.

What did the latest housing market data have to say?

Altos Research released its weekly update on the state of the housing market, and there may be good news for homebuyers that have stayed on the sidelines. Data shows that unsold inventory is rising across the country, and we may see an impact in home prices soon.

There were 595,000 single-family homes available on the market last week. This is over 37% higher than the same time last year, and about 3% increase week-over-week. Every state in the country has more homes for sale now than they did a year ago. The market hasn’t seen levels like this since the start of the pandemic.

The percentage of homes with recent price reductions last week was at 34.8%. That’s up 0.4% week-over-week, but up almost 8% when comparing year-over-year data. Price cuts tend to peak in the fall, so it’s an encouraging sign for home prices that so many homes are already seeing cuts. We may top 2022 price cut numbers which were over 41% at their peak.

When it comes to home prices, the median price of homes in contract last week was $400,000. That’s up 3.9% year-over-year. However, this metric has been essentially flat for over a month, but the price cuts indicate that we may have already seen peak home prices for the year, and could be on our way down sooner rather than later.

Is the housing market moving towards a buyer’s market?

In a recent interview with CNBC, Compass cofounder and CEO Robert Reffkin stated that he believes market dynamics have started to shift in favor of buyers.

Reffkin said, “It is a different environment. We are now seeing more sellers than buyers,” and highlighted some of the areas that have seen recent price cuts.

He went on to suggest caution when putting a home up for sale. Reffkin said, “Sellers bringing their homes on the market during this period need to be aware of how buyers are pushing back. If your home is well priced in this environment, it will sell quickly. But if it’s not, it will sit on the market. Then you’re going to have to have a price drop. Then buyers will see they get a price drop. The sharks come out, and it will hurt you even more.”