PHILADELPHIA, PA — The Philadelphia metropolitan area ranked 59th among the nation’s 100 largest housing markets in Realtor.com’s first Metro Affordability & Homebuilding Report Cards, earning a C as relatively favorable affordability was offset by a low rate of new-home permitting.
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro, spanning parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland, received an overall score of 50.3. Its median listing price was $372,350, compared with a median household income of $88,483.
Philadelphia posted a REALTORS® Affordability Score of 0.794, but its permit-to-population ratio was 0.46. That ratio compares the metro’s share of national housing permits with its share of the U.S. population, meaning the region’s permitting activity was less than half the level that would correspond with its population share at the national construction rate.
Newly constructed homes in the Philadelphia area carried an 84.5% premium over existing homes, according to the report. Realtor.com calculates that measure by comparing median listing prices for new construction with existing homes in each metro.
The findings place Philadelphia near the middle of a national housing market increasingly divided by geography. Realtor.com found that metros in the South and Midwest generally performed better, while markets in the Northeast and West tended to trail because of higher housing costs relative to incomes and lower construction activity.
Pennsylvania markets varied substantially. Pittsburgh ranked 33rd with a C+ and a score of 59.9, while Harrisburg-Carlisle ranked 66th with a C- at 46.2. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre ranked 68th with a C- at 43.4, and the Allentown-Bethlehem metro ranked 76th with a D+ at 38.2.
Nationally, 10 metros earned grades in the A range. Des Moines, Iowa, ranked first with an A+ and an overall score of 83.4, followed by Raleigh, North Carolina, with an A+ and 82.8. Columbia, South Carolina, ranked third with an A and a score of 75.3.
At the other end, 13 metros received F grades. Los Angeles ranked last with a score of 12.0, behind Providence, Rhode Island, at No. 99 and New York at No. 98.
“Homebuilding and affordability are inseparable, and if we want to improve affordability in a lasting way, we need to build more homes,” Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale stated. She pointed to the highest-scoring markets as examples of combining homes attainable to local earners with construction sufficient to support future demand.
Realt.com’s scoring system gives equal weight to affordability and homebuilding. The affordability component measures mortgage costs relative to median income and the share of listings affordable across income levels, while the homebuilding component primarily measures permitting relative to population and also considers the price premium or discount for new construction.
The report is based primarily on 2025 data, including Realtor.com listings, Claritas household-income estimates, and U.S. Census Bureau building-permit and population data. Letter grades range from A+ for scores of 77.5 or higher to F for scores below 30.
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