Sioux Falls Is One of the Top Ten Cities for Homebuyers

Over the years, Sioux Falls has ranked among the nation's best cities in quality of life, affordability, low unemployment, opportunities for working moms, and exceptional public parks.

Now, South Dakota's largest city is among the nation's elite places when it comes to buying a home.

The neighborhood and school research website Niche has Sioux Falls tenth overall on its ranking of the best places in America to purchase a residence.

BEST U.S. CITIES FOR BUYING A HOME (Niche)

Overland Park, Kansas
Rochester, Minnesota
The Woodlands, Texas
Plano, Texas
Naperville, Illinois
Richardson, Texas
Palm Bay, Florida
Round Rock, Texas
Huntsville, Alabama
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The city of more than 174,000 people is the fourth largest on the list but has only the ninth-highest median home value ($175,000) and the eighth-highest median household income ($59,017).

Sioux Falls received an 'A' grade overall after being ranked in a dozen different categories:

Public Schools: A-
Good for Families: A-
Jobs: A-
Nightlife: A-
Commute: A-
Housing: B+
Diversity: B+
Cost of Living: B+
Health and Fitness: B+
Outdoor Activities: B-
Weather: C+
Crime and Safety: C+

Across the nation, the housing market is surprisingly strong even in the face of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to the latest numbers from the United States Census Bureau, new-home sales in the country surged 16.6% in May from April of this year and are up nearly 13 percent from May of 2019.

Experts say those numbers will continue to go up as parts of the nation emerge from the COVID-19 lockdowns and while mortgage interest rates continue to hover near-record-low levels.

According to Sioux-Falls-Real-Estate.com, the city's latest numbers for May 2020 show a 17.5 percent drop in new home listings, but a 22.8 percent increase in pending sales from a year ago.