San Jose predicted to see top housing growth across whole of USA in 2018

Silicon Valley’s San Jose in California is tipped for the top housing market growth in the United States in 2018.

Based on rising home values and rental prices, low unemployment rates, steady income growth and strong job opportunities with lots of people moving to the area, San Jose comes out top in the rankings from real estate firm Zillow.

In second place overall is Raleigh in North Caroline, followed by Seattle, Charlotte in North Carolina, San Francisco, Austin, Denver, Nashville, Portland and Dallas.

Austin has the strongest population growth on the top 10 list at 2.8% while Seattle has the highest forecasted rental growth with rents in the metro expected to climb another 3.5% over the next 12 months.

Rapid home value growth and a high number of job openings per person are the driving forces behind San Jose’s position at the top of Zillow’s list. The San Jose housing market has been booming for several years, mainly due to people moving to the area for high-paying jobs.

Zillow’s analysis highlights just how strong the San Jose market really is. While San Francisco home values have recently started to cool, in San Jose home values are projected to rise 9% in 2018.

Indeed, the median home value in San Jose is over $1 million, and the median rental price is $3,514 per month. Over the past five years, San Jose home values have appreciated 78%.

Although Zillow’s list is largely made up of established tech towns, two increasingly rising North Carolina markets also made the top 10 ranking. Income and population growth in Charlotte and Raleigh are among the strongest of all markets on the list.

Raleigh anchors North Carolina’s so called research triangle and saw a 9% increase in income growth last year. In Charlotte, a fast growing banking centre, incomes rose about 9.5% over the past year.

“This list shows that just because a market is smaller or more affordable doesn’t mean it isn’t dynamic. Growing cities in the Sun Belt, places like Raleigh, Charlotte and Nashville, offer plenty of opportunities healthcare and finance, while providing a less expensive, but still convenient, alternative to the larger and pricier markets in the Northeast,” says Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas.

“The tech industry continues to roar, attracting thousands of new residents per year to tech-dominant markets like Seattle, Denver and the Bay Area. The higher cost of living in these areas is offset to a large degree by well-paying tech jobs.”

In nine out of the 10 markets on Zillow’s list, home values are expected to rise at a faster pace than the nation overall, with the exception of Denver. Nationally, Zillow expects home values to appreciate 3.2% over the next year.