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These 5 college towns are seeing the fastest home price growth in the U.S.

Home prices are still climbing fast in a handful of college towns. Redfin data shows five university markets are far outpacing the nation

Buyers priced out of the country's biggest cities are increasingly looking toward smaller communities built around a university. They find something there that many hot metros can't match right now. Faculty, staff and graduate students always need a place to live, whether or not mortgage rates are climbing, and that steady population keeps sellers in college towns confident even when buyers in bigger cities are pulling back. For house hunters chasing value, that confidence is turning into a real opening.

Nationally, home prices climbed only about 2% year over year through May. That's the slowest annual gain in years, and elevated mortgage rates are keeping plenty of would-be buyers on the sidelines. Along some coasts, in the most sought-after college towns, that caution is turning into outright price declines, as sellers cut prices to hang onto buyers who can no longer stomach the payments. Inland, a different story is playing out. A cluster of smaller, more affordable university towns is posting double-digit annual price growth, several times the national pace, as buyers priced out of larger metros discover that a college town's steady job base and rental demand can make for a safer bet than a speculative boomtown.

Redfin examined housing data across more than 200 college towns nationwide, defined as places where at least 10% of the population is enrolled at a four-year university and located at least 30 miles from a big metro area, then narrowed the field to the 50 largest by student population with enough recorded home sales to analyze. Among those towns, a handful of inland markets stood out for climbing at a pace most of the country hasn't seen in years, even as some of the priciest college towns on the coasts saw values slide. The analysis covers the three months ending in May 2026. That window gives one of the clearest recent looks at where buyer demand is shifting away from the country's priciest metros.

Morgantown, West Virginia

Zoshua Colah / Unsplash

Morgantown, W.Va., posted the fastest home price growth of any college town in the country, with the median sale price climbing 12.9% year over year to $275,000. That's still far below the national median of $398,771, leaving buyers priced out of bigger cities plenty of room to get in before values climb further. West Virginia University enrolls roughly 22,400 students on its Morgantown campus, a sizable population relative to a city of about 30,000 residents. The university's presence helps keep the housing market stable even when national trends wobble.

Home sales dipped just 1.5% year over year, a dip small enough to look like normal seasonal variation rather than any real pullback from buyers. Inventory grew only 2.5%, and new listings rose just 2.1%, as sellers hold off on........

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