Real Estate Markets To Avoid: 10 Cities With Pricey Homes and Bad Weather

Some Americans pay a premium to live in areas with ideal weather conditions, but others are paying a lot to live in places where the weather isn’t so great. If you enjoy being outdoors — or just are happiest when the sun is shining — you may want to avoid living in cities with extreme weather, especially when homes in the area are priced above the national average.

To find the U.S. cities with expensive homes and bad weather, GOBankingRates analyzed those with the hottest average temperatures to the coldest average temperatures, and the heaviest rain and snowfall locations. Cost of living data, home values and livability scores were used to determine which of these bad weather cities should be avoided.

Here’s a look at 10 real estate markets to avoid with pricey homes and bad weather.

• Average home value: $1,334,145
• Livability score (out of 100): 79
• Weather woes: Highly susceptible to earthquakes, chilly summers

• Average home value: $984,007
• Livability score (out of 100): 70
• Weather woes: Greatest number of days with the highest ozone level of any U.S. city

• Average home value: $494,456
• Livability score (out of 100): 60
• Weather woes: Year-round heavy rains and high humidity

• Average home value: $647,599
• Livability score (out of 100): 60
• Weather woes: Receives an average of 77 inches of snow annually and its winter lows average 11 degrees Fahrenheit

• Average home value: $891,570
• Livability score (out of 100): 76
• Weather woes: Averages 147 rainy days per year

• Average home value: $523,572
• Livability score (out of 100): 74
• Weather woes: Cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers

• Average home value: $470,620
• Livability score (out of 100): 61
• Weather woes: Average temperatures exceed 100 degrees Fahrenheit for three months out of the year

• Average home value: $535,810
• Livability score (out of 100): 77
• Weather woes: Average of 222 heavily cloudy days per year

• Average home value: $426,606
• Livability score (out of 100): 75
• Weather woes: Average high temperatures between 104 and 106 degrees Fahrenheit in the summer

• Average home value: $356,140
• Livability score (out of 100): 77
• Weather woes: Extreme cold and snowfall are common in the winter, and oppressive heat and humidity are common in the summer

Methodology: To find the real estate markets to avoid with pricey homes and bad weather, GOBankingRates started by analyzing cities with bad weather across the United States as sourced from Weather.com’s “America’s Most Extreme Weather Cities 2021,” BobVila.com’s “These 30 Places Have the Worst Weather in America” and Travel.ALot.com’s “US Cities With the Least Pleasant Weather.” These cities represent the worst weather in the United States, from the hottest average temperature to the coldest average temperatures, and the heaviest rain and snowfall locations. For each city on the list, a number of factors were found including: (1) grocery cost of living index, (2) healthcare cost of living index, (3) utilities cost of living index, (4) transportation cost of living index, (5) miscellaneous cost of living index, all sourced from Sperlings BestPlaces; (6) average expenditure costs, sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditure Survey; (7) average single-family home value for December 2023, (8) average single-family home value for December 2022, both sourced from Zillow Home Value Index; (9) the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average, as sourced from the Federal Reserve Economic Research; and (10) the livabiliy index, as sourced from AreaVibes. To be included in the final ranking, the average home value had to be above the national average home value and the livability index had to be below 80, signaling a less-than-desirable and expensive place to live. Rankings are based on the average home value for December 2023, the difference in home value from the national average, the monthly average expenditure costs and the livability index. All factors were scored, and scores were combined and sorted to show the real estate markets to avoid with pricey homes and bad weather. All data was collected and is up-to-date as of Jan. 26, 2024.