As many Americans consider buying a home this spring, they may want to take a closer look at the Cleveland metro area. Not only is it home to one of Redfin’s latest and most unique listings—the Cleveland Cavaliers’ Rocket Arena—it’s also one of the most affordable markets in the country.
The typical Cleveland home sold for $230,000 in February, the latest month for which data is available. Among the 50 most populous U.S. metros, only Detroit had a lower median sale price ($181,250).
Eight other Midwest locales, including fellow Ohio cities Columbus and Cincinnati, also ranked in the bottom 15 when it came to median sale price in February. This affordability is the beating heart of the great Midwestern migration that’s been taking place since the pandemic—a trend that Redfin’s own chief economist, Daryl Fairweather, has joined in on.
“We initially left to avoid a smoke event from nearby wildfires,” Fairweather said about her family’s 2020 move from Seattle to Wisconsin. “We ended up staying in Wisconsin because we liked the simpler lifestyle, being close to family, and the lower cost of living. Remote work enabled me to keep my career, too.”
Those interested in following a similar path to Fairweather may be wise to act sooner rather than later—especially if Cleveland is their desired Great Lakes destination. Median home sale prices in the city have been growing at a much higher rate than the country as a whole since 2024; the year-over-year growth in Cleveland home prices was 4.6% as of February, nearly five times the 0.9% nationwide rate.
Beyond general demand for affordable homes, another driver of Cleveland’s rapid price growth is low inventory. The number of homes for sale in the area rose by only 0.5% year over year, the smallest positive change among major Midwest metros during the period.
Low inventory is also making Cleveland one of the fastest markets in the region. The typical home that went under contract there in February spent 44 days on the market. Warren, MI (42) and St. Louis (40) were the only other major Midwest metros where homes sold faster.
But despite these signs of heat, the Cleveland median sale price ($230,000) is still roughly half of the national median sale price ($429,259)—further confirmation that the city is a beacon of affordability.
Cleveland is also one of only a handful of U.S. metros where the average household currently earns enough money to afford the median-priced home. What’s more—the margin between its median income ($76,912) and the amount needed to buy the typical home there ($66,725) is quite healthy at over $10,000.
Jerry Quade, a Redfin principal agent based in Cleveland, weighed in on what else makes the city’s affordability unique: “Cleveland has simply always been an affordable place,” he said. “We don’t have big ups and downs like some markets in Texas or Florida or Las Vegas. Everyone says nothing is affordable anymore, but Cleveland is—and it’s just a nice place to live.”
February 2026 Housing Market Highlights: Cleveland
| February 2026 | Year-over-year change | |
|---|---|---|
| Median sale price | $230,000 | 4.6% |
| Pending home sales | 1,938 | -7.6% |
| Homes sold | 1,364 | -8.6% |
| New listings | 1,774 | -4.5% |
| Total homes for sale (active listings) | 5,659 | 1.9% |
| Inventory | 3,708 | .5% |
| Months of supply | 2.7 | 0.2 |
| Median days on market | 44 | 4 |
| Share of homes that sold above final list price | 27.9% | -3.4 ppts |
| Average sale-to-final-list-price ratio | 97.7% | -0.4 ppts |
| Pending sales that fell out of contract, as % of overall pending sales |
16.4% |
0.3 ppts |
This report is based on a Redfin analysis of MLS data across the 50 most populous U.S. metropolitan areas.
