Andrew Zarivny \/ Shutterstock.com <\/p>\n
House hunters haven\u2019t had much to cheer about the last few years, with record home values and tight inventory pricing many out of the market. That dynamic has begun to change in 2025<\/a> amid a general increase in the number of homes for sale.<\/p>\n Find Out: The Salary Needed To Afford America\u2019s 50 Biggest Cities<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Explore More: The 5 Car Brands Named the Least Reliable of 2025<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n But there are still pockets of the country where finding a home remains a challenge<\/a> \u2014 especially in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, that region is home to three of the five U.S. cities with the worst housing market outlook, according to a new analysis from LendingTree<\/a>. LendingTree based its rankings on four key metrics: vacancy rates, housing unit approvals per 1,000 housing units, home value-to-income ratio, and annual changes in home value-to-income ratio.<\/p>\n Low vacancy rates indicate there aren\u2019t many unoccupied homes in a particular city. This is usually a sign of heavy demand, stiff competition \u2014 and high prices. Similarly, a high home value-to-income ratio is a sign that homes are comparatively expensive. For example, a ratio of 5.0 means median home values are five times more than the median income. A ratio of 2.0 means values are only twice the median income.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s a look at the five cities with the worst housing outlooks<\/a>, per LendingTree:<\/p>\n Vacancy rate<\/strong>: 4.76%<\/p>\n<\/li>\n Housing unit approvals per 1,000<\/strong>: 8.69<\/p>\n<\/li>\n\n