Lancaster County on WSJ/Realtor.com Winter 2026 Housing Market ranking

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Lancaster County is listed on the WSJ/Realtor.com Winter 2026 Housing Market ranking.

The ranking highlights the top housing markets in America.

The Lancaster County real estate market area, served by members of the Lancaster County Association of Realtors, ranked No. 5 on the Winter 2026 Housing Market Ranking issued jointly by The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com.

According to a release, The Wall Street Journal and Realtor.com, “identifies markets that balance a high quality of life with anticipated home appreciation, through analyzing key housing market data, economic vitality and lifestyle metrics.”

“It’s no surprise that Lancaster ranked this highly. We have a comfortable and prosperous community where home values continue to rise due to the high demand of those eager to move here,” Lancaster County Association of Realtors President Christina Diehl said in a statement.

The Top 10 Winter 2026 Housing Market Ranking are as follows:

1. South Bend-Mishawaka, IN-MI
2. Appleton, WI
3. Manchester-Nashua, NH
4. Canton-Massillon, OH
5. Lancaster, PA
6. Springfield, MA
7. Norwich-New London, CT
8. Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI
9. Akron, OH
10. Rockford, IL

“Lancaster locals take pride in the unique attributes of this community and have a genuine affection for the lives they’ve built here,” said Diehl.

The ranking evaluates the 200 most populous core-based statistical areas, as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, and defined by July 2023 OMB delineation standards for eight indicators across two broad categories: real estate market (60%) and economic health and quality of life (40%).

Markets are ranked on a scale of 0 to 100 according to the category indicators, and the result is based on the rankings’ weighted sum. Real estate market category indicators are real estate demand (15%), based on average pageviews per property; real estate supply (15%), based on median days on market for real estate listings; median listing price trend (10%), based on annual price growth over the quarter; property taxes (10%); and climate risk to properties (10%).

Economic and quality of life category indicators are unemployment (5%); wages (5%); regional price parities (5%); the share of foreign born (5%); small businesses (5%); amenities (10%), measured as the average number of stores per specific “everyday splurge” category (coffee, upscale/specialty grocery, home improvement, fitness) per capita in an area; and commute time (5%).