When a prospective homebuyer is looking for a home, they are most likely looking for a place that has everything they’re looking for in a home as well as a city that offers opportunity for a return on their initial investment. With the housing market still in a fragile position due to an increase in housing costs and a lack of inventory to suit the needs of those buying, prospective buyers might feel they will never find what they’re looking for. Luckily, there are several real estate markets across America that hold great promise and opportunity.
Orlando
The boon that Disney World and Harry Potter World provide is why Orlando takes the top spot in real estate markets. Though Orlando experience an increase on housing prices of 9% in 2017, the Local Market Monitor still views the market as fairly valued. This optimistic view is due to Orlando’s 7% job growth over the last two years combined with a 7.6% population growth. With housing prices still 22% below the national average, this makes a prospective buyer take a second look at the area.
Tech Boom
On the West Coast and in several Texas cities, there has been a strong demand from higher-paid tech and energy workers. As a result, prices have started to get closer to the edge in terms of affordability. This is more the opposite of what lies in Orlando. Housing prices have increased to the point where the home prices are now 30% above the price to income ratio that these cities have boasted about in the past. Unfortunately, this would be an area that prospective buyers would want to stay away from. At least for the time being until the housing market truly recovers from the hit it took in 2008/2009.
Diversity
The best part of the housing markets for 2018 is that they are extremely diverse due to widespread price growth and prosperity. Cities range from Boston in the northeast of the country all the way to Sacramento in California. Another great trend is that most of the cities that rank highly this year in terms of the best markets are new to the trends list.
Even through hard times and housing market crashes, there are still glimmers of hope that shine through in what may seem like the worst areas. Luckily, the areas discussed here have shown almost impervious to the hit of 2008/2009 and are projected to prosper even more in the years to come.