Wisconsin is on a roll.
The day after the small-market Milwaukee Brewers claimed their first World Series title in franchise history, the midsized Wisconsin city of Appleton was crowned the top housing market in the U.S. by The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com.
Located about 100 miles north of Milwaukee and home to the Brewers’ High-A affiliate Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, the Appleton metro area took top honors in the housing rankings based on its abundant inventory, buyer-friendly pricing, strong local economy, low cost of living and below-average unemployment rate.
“Appleton’s housing market tells a story of improving supply and steady demand,” Realtor.com Senior Economist Hannah Jones wrote in the report.
She added that active listings in the Appleton area are up significantly year over year and are now just 8.7% below pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, homes in that Midwest metro are spending an average of 40 days on the market, which is three weeks less than the national average.
The rankings are based on 12 housing and economic indicators across two broad categories, with the local real estate market given a 60% weighting and economic health and quality of life accounting for the other 40%.
The Midwest also snagged the next two spots in the housing market hierarchy, with South Bend, Ind., placing second and Canton, Ohio, taking third.
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But overall, the Midwest region remains “solidly seller-friendly” due to strong demand and limited supply, according to the report. A similar story has been playing out in the Northeast, which has no buyer’s markets among the metros analyzed by Realtor.com.
“The South and West are more balanced, with both buyers and sellers having room to negotiate,” Jones noted.
As for Appleton, just 28% of home views on Realtor.com’s platform originated from inside the metro area during the third quarter. More than a quarter of views came from Chicago-area residents, while 11% came from Milwaukeeans, underscoring the economic appeal of the smaller market.
In fact, only two of the top 20 markets in Realtor.com and the Journal’s rankings have populations exceeding 1 million: Grand Rapids, Mich., and Hartford, Conn.
Rounding out the top five housing markets are Manchester, N.H., and Lancaster, Pa., which have respective metro-area populations of 433,415 and 563,159.
“Higher mortgage rates have made the affordability challenge more acute, but they have also sharpened the search for markets where buyers can get more value for their money,” Jones said in a press release announcing the rankings.




