US median home values rebounded by 6.4% last year as Americans put the long-running housing bust behind them. Now property market tracker Zillow has predicted which five cities, with a population of at least 1m, will outperform in the US this year by combining the two factors long associated with housing strength: local unemployment rates and recent population changes.

The firm says a rising local population creates the need for additional housing, while a good job market gives residents enough money and confidence to buy homes.

5th place – Miami: Miami home values shot up an estimated 17.5%, to $183,400, last year as the metro area continued to rebound from the US housing bust and its population rose 3.6% between 2010 and 2012 - more than twice the 1.5% US average.

4th place – San Jose: Silicon Valley’s unofficial capital saw home values rise 15.6% last year to a $741,500 median - the highest for any US metro area with a population over 1m, but Zillow thinks the rally still has a way to go.

The firm expects median local prices to add another 5.3% this year, due partly to a better-than-average 6.8% jobless rate and a 3.1% population gain between 2010 and 2012.

3rd place – Austin, Texas: Austin enjoys a low 5.2% jobless rate, while median home values rose a respectable 4.7% last year, to $197,600.

2nd place - Seattle: It’s little surprise that the home of Amazon, Microsoft and other tech giants has a better-than-average 6.1% jobless rate, as well as a 3.3% 2010-12 population growth and a strong housing market.

Zillow expects median home values there to add 5.9% this year after gaining 10.3% last year to reach $309,100.

1st place – Salt Lake City: Utah’s most-populous metro area ‘is in many ways an underappreciated city’ despite a low 4.5% jobless rate. Property prices rose by 9.1% last year to a median price of $239,900. Meanwhile, the local population grew 3.3% between 2010 and 2012.

Zillow predicts Utah’s capital will see median home values rise 4.2% this year.