U.S. News and World Reports Names the Hottest Housing Markets of 2025 – Where Did Charleston End Up on the List? – Hint 4 SC Markets in the Top 15

These blazing markets blend big-city amenities with lower housing costs than megacities along the West and East coasts.

Four South Carolina markets were among the Top 15 in this latest report from U.S. News and World Report: Charleston-North Charleston, SC #4, Columbia, SC #7, Greenville/Anderson/Mauldin, SC #8 and Charlotte, Concord, Gastonia, NC/SC #12

Key Takeaways

• The top-ranked MSAs are located in a variety of locations including Nebraska, Texas, South Carolina and Colorado.
• Markets to watch that improved the most between June and January include Orlando, Florida; St. Louis; Greeley, Colorado; Richmond, Virginia; and Southern California’s Inland Empire counties, which include Riverside and San Bernardino.
• The most resilient markets that improved year-over-year through January were led by Columbia, South Carolina; Kansas City, Missouri; Los Angeles; San Jose, California; and Boise City, Idaho.

With inflation through February slowly heading in the right direction and 30-year fixed mortgage rates recently settling in at about 6.7%, hopeful homebuyers are slowly edging back into the housing market. But is it enough to unlock a semifrozen housing market?

The good news is that according to Freddie Mac, applications for mortgage purchase loans were up 5% year-over-year through mid-March. At the same time, with stock markets in flux and consumer sentiment dipping sharply in recent weeks, if concerns about rebounding inflation and job security continue to build, that could prompt some buyers to wait for more certainty.

Still, even if consumers hold back on high-ticket items such as new cars, trips and electronics, the stability of owning one’s own home is a powerful motivator to take the plunge into the housing market – especially if it’s relatively affordable, such as in the hottest housing market for January.

Since the metrics for local housing markets will not be equal for each region, state or city, it’s important for buyers and sellers to do their research,orank their must-haves and find the best agents for their situations.

Our analysis of the hottest housing markets pulls from the U.S. News Housing Market Index,which incorporates a wide array of data points and provides a simple yet comprehensive way to rank the covered metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) from frigid to balmy on a scale of 1-100. This particular ranking is based on data from January 2025.

Hottest Markets Overall

Although the hottest MSA scores ranged up to 76.2, there were lower-scoring MSAs under 50, including Boston, Sacramento and two markets in Florida. At the top of the spectrum, the following MSAs are the hottest housing markets ranked from first to fifth:

• Omaha, Nebraska – 76.2
• Austin, Texas – 72.3
• Houston – 72.1
• Charleston, South Carolina – 71.6
• Denver – 71.5

Given a tightening job market with employers regaining the balance of power, working remotelyfull time is much less of a consideration for today’s homebuyers. As a result, the metrics that define a relatively hot housing market are returning to the traditional basics of local demand, supply and financial considerations. Whether in Nebraska or South Carolina, what these hottest markets seem to share are big-city amenities without the high housing costs of MSAs closer to the megacities along the West and East coasts.

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Source and Full Report – U.S. News and World Report Real Estate