- Syracuse ranked first among 100 markets with a 9.9% estimated gross rental yield and the largest projected one-year home-value gain, after a 48.1% rise since 2021.
- Wichita placed second and Hartford third, while Rochester ranked sixth with a 9.09% yield and 5.7% annual rent growth, ahead of Syracuse’s 5.3%.
- McAllen, Texas, posted the top-10’s highest yield at 11.10% but the slowest rent growth at 1.8%, showing why yield alone did not decide the rankings.
Syracuse tops a new investment market ranking for single-family rentals, combining a 9.9% estimated gross yield with the largest forecast price gain among 100 metros, GlobeSt reports.
The study, from Freedom Debt Relief, blends Zillow, Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics data into seven indicators. Wichita and Hartford took second and third.
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Beyond the Yield
Yield alone didn’t win it for Syracuse. The metro earned a perfect 100 on the study’s index, with homes listing around $268,983 and renting at $2,219 a month, which works out to that 9.9%.
What set it apart was momentum. Home values are up 48.1% since 2021, the study expects the largest one-year gain of any market, and rents are growing 5.3% a year.
Rochester Right Behind
Upstate New York put two metros in the top 10. Rochester, ranked sixth with 90.50 points, lists homes at $281,678 and rents at $2,134, a 9.09% yield.
Its 5.7% rent growth actually beats Syracuse’s, a reminder that no single metric decides the ranking.
Cheaper Entry Points
Investors who want a lower price of entry have options. Wichita, second at 92.44, lists homes at $233,188 and rents at $1,398 for a 7.51% yield, with 4.1% rent growth and a projected 3.89% one-year price gain.
Then there’s McAllen, Texas, the cautionary tale. Eighth at 88.57, its $189,962 listing price is the lowest of the top 10 and its 11.10% yield the best, on $1,756 monthly rent. But rent growth of 1.8% is the slowest among the leaders.
Boise City, Idaho, posted the quickest rent growth in the top group.
Why It Matters
Gross yield is only a starting point. Appreciation, rent growth and entry price pull in different directions, and the top markets split along those lines, so the ranking rewards balance over one big number.
It also helps to know who is buying. As we reported earlier this week, small investors made up 66.2% of investor home purchases in the first half, per Realtor.com, which found investors clustering in affordable Midwest and Sun Belt metros like Memphis and St. Louis.
