Most of the hottest real estate markets for 2017 will be between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Coast, according to predictions made by Zillow [1] on Friday. While the top market prediction for 2017, based on house price value growth and strengthening local economies, is Nashville, markets in the West dominated the list of markets expected to see rising demand.
Utah placed three cities in the top 10 hottest markets-to-be, with Provo, Salt Lake City, and Ogden. Provo’s 2.7 percent unemployment rate was the lowest on Zillow’s list, and house prices in all three Utah markets are expected to grow by at least 4 percent this year.
Seattle, Denver, and Sacramento are also expected to be among the top-growing markets for 2017. Zillow reported that Seattle is seeing home value growth in the double-digits and has some of the fastest rent growth in the country.
Just two weeks before Zillow’s list, Redfin announced its own list of the 10 most competitive neighborhoods in the U.S. [2] Seattle had three neighborhoods on that list. In Factoria, the most competitive market in 2016, the typical home went under contract in seven days and sold for 5 percent above the asking price, while home prices there grew 26 percent over the year.
Sacramento, one of the most affordable large metros in California, is seeing a sharp rise in home prices. Still, Zillow reported, homes in the city are nearly 60 percent more affordable than those in the Bay Area, which is driving up the desire to move there. Zillow is predicting Sacramento home values to appreciate almost 5 percent over the next year.
Portland had the strongest home value growth in 2016 among the 100 largest U.S. metros, with home values up almost 15 percent over the past year, Zillow reported. Housing experts predict that Portland, Seattle and Denver will continue to outperform the average national home value growth in 2017. Nationally, Zillow expects home values to appreciate 3 percent over the next year.