10 US Cities Forecast To Become Less Affordable in 2025

Due to a variety of factors including a housing demand that cannot be adequately met by supply, home prices in many U.S. cities are becoming more expensive, as discussed by the “Freakonomics Podcast.” As soon as next year, you may be unable to cover the expense of buying a home in your dream location — or possibly even where you already live. 

The Zebra, an insurance comparison site, determined the 10 U.S. cities forecast to become less affordable in 2025. To do this, The Zebra tapped into Zillow’s typical home values and forecasted their potential growth based on current year-over-year change projections. The Zebra then compared it to the projected median U.S. home value for 2025 ($481,692.98) to see what cities just miss the mark of affordability. 

Only cities that were not previously unaffordable were included in our list of top 10. Cities are ranked from most to least affordable, based on projected home prices.

In contrast, here are the most affordable cities

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 21.6%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 76.9%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.1 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 12.8%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 78.9%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.1 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 15.2%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 79.8%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.3 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 24.2%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 94.2%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.5 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 16.8%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 104.8%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.5 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 15.1%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 105.1%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.6 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 17.1%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 108.4%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $1.6 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 15.8%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 110.7%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $2.3 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 16.6%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 131.3%

• Projected median home value by 2025: $2.5 million
• Year-over-year percent growth: 14.2%
• Percent difference from the projected U.S. median home value in 2025: 135.7%