International Buyers Shift Demand Toward Texas, Florida

Stacker’s state-by-state rankings using Zillow’s September 2025 Home Values Index show the typical U.S. home value was $364,891 in September, while a roughly 6.27% 30‑year fixed mortgage rate continues to squeeze buyers. The rankings show expensive housing concentrated in a few metros: all of Illinois’s priciest cities are in the Chicago metro, Charleston dominates South Carolina’s list, and many Colorado markets — including Denver and mountain towns — have typical values above $900k and some mountain towns exceed $2M. Other state patterns include Utah led by Heber and Provo‑Orem; Arkansas centered on Fayetteville; Wisconsin dominated by Milwaukee and Madison; and Missouri’s lists dominated by St. Louis with Kansas City also prominent. Alabama’s most expensive markets include Birmingham and Daphne, while Rapid City and Sioux Falls feature among South Dakota’s priciest places. The analysis shows substantial multi-year appreciation in many high-cost areas, intensifying affordability challenges. Separately, international buyer interest in Q3 favored Florida and Texas — with Mexican buyers showing about three times more interest in Texas than Florida — and Canadians, Argentinians and Israeli buyers showed distinct state preferences, a trend partly driven by a weak U.S. dollar.