While the housing market continues its recovery, some cities have bounced back with much more strength than others. To determine the cities that experienced significant declines in home prices during the downturn, and have since recovered to or beyond their pre-crisis peak, SmartAsset looked at home price data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the National Association of Realtors.
Cities that topped the list include Nashville, San Francisco, San Jose, Raleigh and Charlotte. And a number of the cities that have recovered strongly remain highly affordable, with median home prices currently well below the U.S. average.
The study did not include some of today’s strongest housing markets, like Austin, since those markets remained relatively healthy even during the downturn.
Southern cities are clearly bouncing back. Four of the top ten cities with the strongest housing recoveries are located in the south.
In the top city, Nashville, prices are now 11% higher than they were before the crisis. Despite that, Nashville remains something of a bargain: According to the National Association of Realtors, the median home sales price in Music City is just $187,200, below the national average of $208,700.
