Real estate website Realtor is always on the lookout for the hottest real estate markets in the US and they use their data to determine which areas sellers and buyers are most motivated and active. With 2015 almost nearing its end, the website feels it's high time to cast their fearless forecast on the next red-hot places in real estate for the coming year.
And to get the job done, they have their chief economist Jonathan Smoke list down the top 10 up-and-coming metropolitan markets in their 2016 Housing Forecast released on Wednesday.
In order to find out which markets will likely equal or surpass the average US market growth, Smoke and his team took account of the 100 largest markets in the country and used past trends and seasonal variations of housing and economic data to come up with a statistical model that will predict values for home sales and prices. And the result is surprising!
San Francisco, Denver and Dallas, markets that have constantly made it to Realtor's "hot list" were surprisingly unable to get a coveted spot, and this is attributed to a possible slower price appreciation as well as declining sales.
Those markets that made the top 10 list are way ahead in terms of listing page views by 60% than that of the US overall and sell 16 days faster than the US average. There are a number of factors that have caused the surge in the identified markets including growing household formation, a prosperous job market, low unemployment rates, and large populations of key demographics.
What these markets have in common is that 2016 is looking all bright for them; however, they each have unique underlying dynamics.
"Some markets have been hot and are remaining hot (San Diego, Sacramento, Boston, Atlanta)," Smoke noted. "Some are just now seeing signs of recovery based on substantially better economic conditions forecasted for next year (Providence, New Orleans, Virginia Beach, St. Louis). Some are spillover markets from very hot markets (Providence, Sacramento), and most have one or more key demographic driving demand."
And not to keep the suspense any longer, here is Realtor's top 10 real estate markets to watch in 2016:
1. Providence, RI
2. St. Louis, MO
3. San Diego, CA
4. Sacramento, CA
5. Atlanta, GA
6. New Orleans, LA
7. Memphis, TN
8. Charlotte, NC
9. Virginia Beach, VA
10. Boston, MA
