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These 15 Cities Are Building the Most New Homes

If they build it, homebuyers will come.

Builder with a female client
Updated Nov. 19, 2024
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The housing inventory shortage over the past several years has made affordable housing hard to come by. Would-be homeowners are still getting pushed out of markets that were once accessible, and with the market still reeling from pandemic-era’s inflated prices and 2023’s record high interest rates, the quest to find an affordable home doesn’t look to be getting any easier.

Unless you move to where new housing inventory is being added.

There are a few markets where new homes are going up faster than others. And, with many employees still working remotely, the wisest homeowner move may be to go where you can find more affordable housing.

When supply outpaces demand, prices typically go down. And, in these 15 cities, they’re seeing an increase in supply, which means prices could come down.

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Sante Fe, NM

SeanPavonePhoto/Adobe Santa Fe New Mexico at sunset

If you have your eye on moving to the Land of Enchantment, you could be in luck.

While the median price is still high at $699,995, there was a 482.8% increase in new housing units built this year that added up to an additional 589 total units. Those new units brought with them a 566.2% change in value, something that translates to $109,169,871 in value added to the housing market.

Idaho Falls, ID

OLya_L/Adobe boise river in idaho during fall

Idaho Falls has a median price of $379,900, and there were 789 new housing units built last year, which came out to a 526% increase in inventory.

That boost led to a 450.9% increase in value of new residential housing units, which equals an impressive $130,181,528 increase in dollar value. If you’re looking for a more outdoorsy way of life and feel like recollecting you’ll want to keep your fingers crossed that the demand doesn’t keep up with this increased supply, allowing prices to remain affordable in this area.

Wausau, WI

Jason A. Bleecher/Adobe Wisconsin countryside during day

Located right on the Wisconsin River, the town of Wausau is building residential units at an astounding rate.

They built 175 units this year, which is a huge increase for this smaller sized city that saw a 460.5% increase to their available housing.

Not only did Wausau add more homes to the market, it also added $31,780,657 in value — that’s a 398.2% increase! This could lead to even more affordable homes in a place where the median home value is already pretty reasonable at $199,950.

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Muncie, IN

Nicholas J. Klein/Adobe Downtown Muncie Indiana

Muncie was already an affordable city, with a median home price of $129,00, but it’ll become even more affordable after the town added 26 residential housing units, which amounts to an increase of 185.7%.

Those 26 housing units added an estimated $15,774,544 to the value of new residential housing units, comes out to a 384.8% increase.

Flint, MI

Jacob/Adobe Aerial View of Downtown Flint

Homes in Flint, MI — which is located just over 60 miles from Detroit — have a median home price of just $58,500. Contractors added 151 homes to their housing inventory in 2024, which is a 387.2% increase. That added $34,99,434 in value or a 293.4% increase from last year.

Helena, MT

mandritoiu/Adobe Drone view of Montana Capitol

Helena is a dense suburban town located close to outdoor recreation, and that could be why so many people want to move there.

But, in a town where the median home price is currently $579,900, it can be hard to find affordable housing. Fortunately, Helena added 126 housing units last year. That’s a 381.8% increase, which is $21,747,525 in value and a 226.5% increase in value.

Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA

jonbilous/Adobe View of downtown Ventura

You won’t find a lot of houses for cheap in California. But, if you’re looking in the Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura region, you may at least find more homes, since they added 507 units this year, which is a 248.5% increase.

This translated to $90,743,973 in value which is a 209.7% increase. Hopefully that allows Californians (and those who wish to be Caliofornians) access to more affordable housing in an area where the median home price is a budget-busting $849,995.

Warner Robins, GA

Marcus Jones/Adobe City of Warner Robins Georgia

With a median home price of $240,000, Warner Robins is an affordable and welcoming place to settle down in the Peach State.

And the good news is that it only stands to get more affordable. Warner Robins added 402 new residential housing units in 2024, which is an increase of 180.3%. The additional builds came out to $88,813,033 in value, which is an increase of 206.4%.

Trenton-Princeton, NJ

Christopher Boswell/Adobe waterfront section trenton new jersey

There’s a wide range in the median home price in Trenton vs. Princeton — $250,000 vs. $1,118,800 — but the entire area is seeing a major increase in housing inventory.

Hopefully, the 184 new residential units that were added in 2024, which is a 161.4% increase, will help people tap into the added real estate value of $25,628,836, something that saw a 195.3% in 2024.

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Lake Charles, LA

Felix Mizioznikov/Adobe Lake Charles port harbor

If you’re looking to move to a place with outdoor recreation, Lake Charles should be on your radar.

The median home price here is $209,900, and 159 new housing units were added in 2024 for a 68.8% increase to the town’s housing inventory. This added $48,061,317 in value, which is an increase of 147.7%.

Albuquerque, NM

SeanPavonePhoto/Adobe Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA Cityscape

A median home price of $356,450 may not stay that high for long if Albuquerque keeps building homes at the rate they built them in the first half of 2024.

Builders added 552 new residential units this year, for an increase of 138.7%. This added up to 94,340,623 in value for an increase of 147.3%.

Greenville, NC

Nikola/Adobe beautiful Greenville downtown Falls park

You may not just find an affordable cost of living in Greenville, where 417 residential housing units were added last year for an increase of 270.8%, you may also find your dream home.

Greenville’s median home price is $269,900, and the area saw a $48,516,287 increase in value thanks to all the new construction, which translated into a 131.9% increase.

Knoxville, TN

Designpics/Adobe World's Fair Park.

Knoxville has a college town energy, and that means the housing stock is growing rapidly. The median home price is currently $440,000, but 1,012 units were added in 2024, increasing inventory by 126.7%.

The value added was a whopping $218,632,415 for an increase of 108.3%.

Las Vegas, NV

f11photo/Adobe cityscape of Las Vegas from top view in Nevada, USA

You don’t have to like gambling to want to take advantage of the rapid increase of housing in Las Vegas. There were 1,417 housing units added this year across the Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas region.

The 69.6% added $443,476,263 in value, which will hopefully help bring down the median home prices of $460,000.

Dover, DE

Eldon/Adobe Delaware state capitol building

The quiet town of Dover is popular with retirees, and it has a median home price of $361,000.

This year, 184 housing units were added for an increase of 129.6% and a total value of $22,762,654. All of this growth is an increase of 100.4%.

Bottom line

Louis-Photo/Adobe Handyman installing tile on floor

If you’re looking for ways to help pay for your mortgage, you may want to see if you can find ways to pay off debt or come up with new and clever ways to make money. If that doesn’t work, you can always consider lowering your monthly payment by purchasing a more affordable house.

How do you do that? By moving to one of these cities where the addition of new housing units will hopefully soon outpace the demand for them, forcing sellers and builders to lower prices to entice buyers. Moving isn’t cheap, but when it comes to chasing the dream of finding a more affordable home, it could be worth it.

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Heather Bien

Heather Bien is a writer covering personal finance and budgeting and how those relate to life, travel, entertaining, and more. With bylines that include The Spruce, Apartment Therapy, and mindbodygreen, she's covered everything from tax tips for freelancers to budgeting hacks to how to get the highest ROI out of your home renovations.