While many forecasts predict that the U.S. housing market will cool this year, a number of markets will stay hot. Backed by strong local economies, lower price tags and available inventory, realtor.com has identified the top 10 housing markets positioned for growth in 2020. Notably, home sales and prices in the top 10 markets are expected to increase by 2.4% and 3.1% on average year-over-year, respectively. This is in contrast to a 1.8% decrease in home sales and a 0.8% increase in sales prices nationwide, according to realtor.com's 2020 housing forecast. For those in the property & casualty insurance industry, the housing market's performance has a number of implications. For example, a rise in demand means more construction activity, which directly affects workers' compensation as construction work is notorious for workplace injuries and fatalities. Alternatively, when demand is low, prospective buyers may look to rent instead, which gives agents and brokers an opportunity to offer renters' insurance. "Many of the markets on this year's list are late bloomers in the current housing cycle, meaning they still have plenty of inventory and prices are within reach — a rare combination in recent years," George Ratiu, senior economist at realtor.com, said in a statement. "Additionally, a number of the top markets in 2020 are welcoming an influx of buyers from nearby large cities that have become crowded, expensive and lack sufficient inventory." Realtor.com's ranking is based on the combined yearly percentage growth in both home sales and prices expected in 2020 among the top 100 largest markets in the country per realtor.com's metro level housing forecast. With this in mind, explore our slideshow above to see realtor.com's ranking of the top 10 housing markets in 2020. Related: |

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