Where should YOU buy a home in 2024? The 25 US cities where property values are rising fastest

America's real estate market is steeped in uncertainty as soaring mortgage rates effectively freeze buyer activity.

It has left many questioning: is property still a good investment? 

But a new study by GoBankingRates claims to shed light on the areas that are most likely to help owners get the best returns.

Researchers analyzed the average house price - as recorded by Zillow - in major US metros as of January 2024 and established where prices have risen quickest in the past five years.

Their findings show that Atlantic City, New Jersey, is the best place to gain value on a property. The average home in the area costs $218,761, having shot up 102 percent in price since 2019 and 16 percent in the last year alone.

A new study by GoBankingRates claims to shed light on the areas that are most likely to help owners get the best returns

It was followed by Waterbury, Connecticut, where the typical home costs $249,073, up 15 percent from last year and 100 percent from five years ago.

The top five was rounded out by Lewiston, Maine, Mercedes, Texas, and Torrington, Connecticut. 

By comparison, the national average home value in the US in January 2024 was $343,951, up 50 percent from 2019 and 3 percent from last year.

New Jersey was the state to appear most prominently on the list, with nine of the 25 places ranked located in the Garden state. 

It was followed by Florida and Tennessee which had four cities each on the list.

Notably no cities in New York or California made the top 25. The rankings were compiled by combining the percentage changes in each city in one year and in the last five years.

The findings come after a separate report by property portal Redfin found the US housing market had gained $2 trillion in value over the last year.

Redfin's analysis of more than 90 million homes across the country found the total value of residential real estate had increased 5.3 percent to $47.5 trillion in December.

However, experts have repeatedly sounded the alarm over a real estate 'correction' which will see house values fall somewhat after ballooning during the pandemic.

Former Oppenheimer analyst Meredith Whitney - who has been dubbed the 'Oracle of Wall Street' after predicting the 2008 financial crash - told DailyMail.com that house prices would start to fall as Baby Boomers begin downsizing.

She said: 'Around 90 percent of housing stock is owned by over 40s while 74 percent is by those over 50.

'It makes logical sense that lots of these owners will start to downsize in the next decade. That's almost 35 million homes - it's a huge number to go through the system.

Analyst Meredith Whitney, who is known as the 'Oracle of Wall Street', said house prices in some states will fall this year

Mortgage rates are hovering close to 7 percent - almost double where they were two years ago 

'My advice to homeowners is: if you want to sell, you're better off doing it sooner than later.'

The average rate on a 30-year fixed-rate home loan is now 6.94 percent, according to Government-backed lender Freddie Mac. It is almost double what they were two years ago.

In a normal market this would be enough to dampen demand for homes and thus quash prices. However, several experts have noted that a widespread property shortage in the US has kept home values artificially high. 

Data from Redfin shows that the typical US homeowner now spends twice as long in their properties as they did in 2005.

Today an owner can expect to spend 11.9 years in the same property, compared to 6.5 years two decades ago.

Whitney insists that there will be no house price 'crash' but rather an overdue correction.