Ten Housing Markets That are Ready to Take Off

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released a report detailing its top 10 markets to watch over the coming three to five years. These top ten markets include: Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Columbus, Ohio; Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas; Fort Collins, Colorado; Las Vegas, Nevada; Ogden, Utah;  Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina; and Tampa-St. Petersburg, Florida.

“Some markets are clearly positioned for exceptional longer-term performance due to their relative housing affordability combined with solid local economic expansion,” Lawrence Yun, NAR’s Chief Economist, said. “Drawing new residents from other states will also further stimulate housing demand in these markets, but this will create upward price pressures as well, especially if demand is not met by increasing supply.”

The NAR based its findings on data by a plethora of factors, which included domestic migration, housing affordability for new residents, consistent job growth relative to the national average, population age structure, attractiveness for retirees and home price appreciation, and that’s just to name a few.

NAR President and broker at Malta & Co., Inc. in San Francisco, Vince Malta, gave potential homebuyers the proverbial go-ahead when choosing among cities on this list. 

“Potential buyers in these 10 markets will find conditions especially favorable to purchase a home going into the next decade,” Malta said. 

Another factor that affected these findings include strong job growth in these areas, which drives up prices in these markets. 

“The dream of owning a home appears even more attainable for those who move to or are currently living in these markets,” Malta said. 

The NAR said payroll employment rose 2.5% annually over the past three years in these markets—higher than the national rate of 1.6%. Job growth in Ogden, Las Vegas, Dallas, and Raleigh grew nearly 3%. 

Movers accounted for 21% of the total population in Colorado Spring and 17% in Fort Collins. Movers coming to Las Vegas were 16% of the population. Eleven percent of the people who moved to Tampa were older than 65, while 54% of those who moved to Durham where between the ages of 18-34.