Short List

Top Housing Markets for Growth and Stability

Moderate, steady home price appreciation helps homeowners build equity and contributes to a stable housing market. Financial technology company firm SmartAsset sought to identify the top U.S. housing markets for growth and stability.

Boulder, Colorado

Over the past 25 years, home prices have risen an average of 4 percent per year, while home prices have not seen a decline of more than 5 percent, even during the national foreclosure crisis.

Austin, Texas

The Austin housing market is among the hottest in the country, and during the financial crisis prices declined by just 3.4 percent while cities like San Jose and Seattle saw price declines of more than 10 percent.

Bismarck, North Dakota

North Dakotas economy is strong its current seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate is just 2.6 percent which helps support a remarkably stable housing market. Home prices have not declined 5 percent or more in 25 years.

Midland, Texas

Midland had among the highest home price gains in the U.S. over the past 25 years, with prices rising by an average of 3.3 percent annually.

Casper, Wyoming

A combination of economic and population growth helped Casper achieve the highest average home appreciation of any U.S. city over the past 25 years, rising an average of 4.7 percent annually.

Anchorage, Alaska

The city has seen an annual average home-price growth rate of over 3 percent since 1990, and it has not suffered any significant price declines over that same period.

Billings, Montana

During the recession, the unemployment rate in Billings never exceeded 7 percent, foreclosure rates remained relatively low and the housing market saw minimal price declines.

Walla Walla, Washington

Home prices have grown nearly 30 percent since the start of 2005, despite temporary losses during the housing crisis. The citys overall growth rate of 256 percent since 1990 ranks as fifth-highest of the 358 markets in SmartAssets study.

Odessa, Texas

Home prices have consistently increased in Odessa, where price levels today are more than triple what they were in 1990.

Houma-Thibodaux, Louisiana

Despite the setbacks of Hurricane Katrina and the recession, home prices declined by just 2.5 percent from their peak at the beginning of the crisis to their low point.