While home prices have generally risen across the United States in the last few decades, the widespread growth in home value has not been universal.
Perhaps the most notable exception has been the Prairie State, particularly in cities outside of the Chicago area.
A recent study from SmartAsset analyzed 400 U.S. metropolitan areas and measured the growth of home value since 1998.
While home values on average grew 154% from the start of 1998 through the end of 2022, price growth was significantly stunted in the country's bottom 15 metropolitan areas, six of which are in Illinois.
More strikingly, five of the bottom six cities are in Illinois.
While Montgomery, Alabama saw the country's smallest amount of growth in home value at just 59.6%, five cities outside of the Chicago area followed on the list.
Springfield, Peoria, Bloomington, Rockford and Decatur followed in the #2 through #6 spots respectively, with price growth ranging from 61.4% to 62.3%.
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In addition to the five aforementioned cities, home price growth has also been remarkably slow in Kankakee, which was tied with Macon, Georgia for 13th with a growth rate of just 70.7%.
Other cities in the Midwest have also endured a similar struggle, with cities in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio appearing on the list.
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In contrast, home prices have soared 354% in Austin, Texas, which has seen remarkable population growth spearheaded by a rapidly diversifying economy in the last 25 years.
Cities in California and Florida also generally saw significant growth in home value.
Below are the 15 cities which saw the smallest growth in home value since 1998, according to SmartAsset:
- 1. Montgomery, Alabama: 59.6%
- 2. Springfield, Illinois: 61.4%
- 3. Peoria, Illinois: 61.7%
- 4. Bloomington, Illinois: 61.7%
- 5. Rockford, Illinois: 61.7%
- 6. Decatur, Illinois: 62.3%
- 7. Saginaw, Michigan: 63.5%
- 8. Kokomo, Indiana: 64.7%
- 9. Lawton, Oklahoma: 67.8%
- 10. Toledo, Ohio: 67.8%
- 11. Charleston, West Virginia: 69.3%
- 12. Cleveland, Ohio: 69.4%
- 13. Kankakee, Illinois: 70.7%
- 14. Macon, Georgia: 70.7%
- 15. Bay City, Michigan: 71.2%
More details on the SmartAsset study can be found here.
