The national housing inventory has dropped to historic lows, with only 2.9 months of supply available, intensifying competition in already high-demand markets across the country. A recent study by Badeloft USA compared the real estate market and housing demand across the U.S. to identify the most desirable cities to own a property in. The research selected 40 major U.S. cities, focusing on urban centers and the most active housing markets. They were analyzed by key criteria, including average home price, house size, number of houses available, as well as Google searches for real estate. The final ranking is based on relative buyer interest, calculated from the searches-to-available-houses ratio.
Here is a summary of the findings:
| City | Searches | Average house price | Average house Size (ft) | Available houses | Searches per available house |
| Washington | 1,565,380 | $589,180.00 | 932 | 3,393.00 | 461.36 |
| San Diego | 589,600 | $1,005,710.00 | 1467 | 2,720.00 | 216.76 |
| Fresno | 226,040 | $382,320.00 | 1803 | 1,143.00 | 197.76 |
| Los Angeles | 1,155,900 | $948,383.00 | 1544 | 9,168.00 | 126.08 |
| Sacramento | 186,470 | $478,525.00 | 1551 | 1,631.00 | 114.33 |
| Kansas City | 186,980 | $232,895.00 | 2008 | 1,704.00 | 109.73 |
| Albuquerque | 153,230 | $329,467.00 | 2078 | 1,426.00 | 107.45 |
| Louisville | 165,540 | $240,583.00 | 1824 | 1,720.00 | 96.24 |
| Boston | 171,320 | $745,827.00 | 1251 | 1,909.00 | 89.74 |
| San Jose | 97,380 | $1,426,853.00 | 1582 | 1,228.00 | 79.30 |
You can access the full research by following this link.
The most desirable U.S. city to own a property in is Washington, DC, with 461.3 real estate searches per house for sale, highlighting high market competitiveness. The real estate searches amount to 1.5M monthly, but there are currently only 3.3K available homes for sale in the city. House prices in Washington come up to $589.1K on average.
Ranking as the second most desirable city to own a property in the U.S. is San Diego, California, with 216.7 searches per house, 2 times less than in Washington. San Diego is the second most expensive city on the list, with an average home price of one million. The homes here are also more spacious than in Washington, with a size of 1,467 feet on average.
Fresno, California, takes third place, with 197.7 searches per house. The city has the smallest number of homes available, with only 1,143, but they are more spacious and affordable than in San Diego and Washington, costing around $382.3K.
Los Angeles, California, ranks fourth, getting 126 searches per house for sale. The city has the second-most searches for real estate in the ranking, over 1.1M, but homes in Los Angeles are also one of the most expensive. The average house costs $948.3K here, and there are over 9K homes for sale in Los Angeles.
Sacramento, California, is fifth in the ranking of the most desirable cities to own a property in, with 114.3 searches. The houses here are of similar size to those in Los Angeles, but they are much more affordable, $478.5K on average, which is 2 times cheaper. At the same time, the availability of houses is much smaller than in Los Angeles or San Diego, with 1,631 houses for sale.
Kansas City, Missouri, follows closely with sixth place and 109.7 searches. The city has almost the same number of searches for real estate as in Sacramento, with 186K, but they are much more affordable in Kansas City. The average house here costs $232.8K, the most affordable real estate in the top 10. The city also offers the second-biggest houses in the top 10, with an average size of 2,008 square feet.
Albuquerque, New Mexico, holds seventh place, with 107.4 searches per house. The city stands out with the most spacious houses, averaging 2,078 square feet. Currently, there are 1,426 houses available for sale, but the competition is still high.
In eighth place is Louisville, Kentucky, getting 96.2 searches per available house. It is the city with the second most affordable real estate, with houses costing around $240.5K, closely following Kansas City. Currently, there are 1,720 houses for sale in the city.
Boston, Massachusetts, is ninth, with 89.7 searches, 5 times less than for real estate in Washington. The city offers smaller houses, with an average size of 1,251 square feet, but the real estate is still pretty expensive. Houses in Boston cost around $745.8K.
San Jose, California, closes the ranking of the most desirable cities to own a property in the U.S., with tenth place and 79.3 searches. The real estate market is competitive mostly due to low availability of houses for sale, with only 1,228, the second-fewest in the top 10. The city also has the priciest real estate, with an average house cost of $1.4M.
A spokesperson from Badeloft USA recently commented on the study: “The extreme variation in buyer interest and property values between cities like Washington D.C. and Kansas City reflects America’s deepening geographic wealth divide, where coastal and political centers command premium attention while heartland markets offer affordability but struggle for visibility. This market polarization signals broader economic trends about where Americans perceive long-term value and opportunity, creating investment landscapes where location increasingly determines both accessibility and potential returns in the housing market.”