Davenport Is 2026’s 6th Worst Small Real-Estate Market
If you've tried to buy or sell a home recently in the Quad Cities (especially Davenport), this comes as no surprise. Davenport is the 6th-worst small real estate market in the country.
But what exactly does that mean? And if things are so bad here, where are they good?
Homes and Affordability
The biggest factor in a city's real estate is the homes themselves. That's why Wallethub used 10 different metrics for 80% of its rating. Those include:
- Home Value Forecast
- Median Home Price Appreciation
- Median Days on the Market
- Share of seriously underwater mortgages
- Ratio of rent price to sale price
- Forclosure rate
- Share of people delinquent on their mortgage debt
- Vacancy rate
- Share of young homes
- Building permit activity
The other 20% of the rating comes from affordability and economic environment.
- Housing affordability
- Maintenance affordability
- Population growth rate
- Job growth rate
- Unemployment rate
- Unemployment rate
- Median credit score
The Best Real Estate Market in 2026
Frisco, Texas, is number 1, followed closely by neighboring McKinney, Texas. Having lived in the Dallas area, I can tell you these are great places for real estate, but if you want to drive from the suburbs to Dallas, you'd better pack a lunch and have a full tank of gas. Brutal commute. But that is not factored into this real estate study.
The top Midwest city comes in at number 7, Madison, Wisconsin. Another place I've lived...many, many years ago. And a lot has changed in 20 years, so not sure what things are like there anymore.
The WalletHub study also shows California was overpriced. The top 5 cities with seriously underwater mortgages are all in California.
Meanwhile, a Chicago suburb shows up on the list of cities with the lowest median days on the market. Welcome to Naperville.
So where does Davenport rank? Number 284 overall. And number 124 in the small cities. But we're 3 higher than Peoria. So take that!
Why Is Davenport at the bottom of the Best Real Estate Market Ranking?
Health of Davenport’s Real-Estate Market (1=Best; 150=Avg.):
- 268th – Share of Seriously Underwater Mortgages
- 127th – Median Days on the Market
- 290th – Median Home-Price Appreciation
- 206th – Job Growth Rate
- 235th – Foreclosure Rate
- 281st – % of Delinquent Mortgage Holders
- 143rd – Maintenance Costs as % of Income
Those are some rough numbers. You can see the full report from WalletHub here.
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