Colorado Springs is the top housing market to watch in 2019, according to an analysis by real estate website Trulia. The metro area leads cities in the Southwest and California, as well as other potential markets farther east.
Trulia noted that the top housing markets for 2019 are moving away from the Silicon Valley tech-job centers. Interestingly, Denver, which has positioned itself as a new haven for tech jobs, is also not in the top 10.
[Related: Metro Denver growth offers opportunities, challenges for builders]
Additionally, the report “highlights markets relatively close to more-expensive metros, but far enough away to offer their own attractions and opportunities without many of the mounting affordability concerns that mark those marquee names.”
Trulia considered the 100 largest metropolitan areas to identify the top strongest housing markets for the report. It based its results on the year-over-year job growth in the metro area, vacancy rates, affordability of starter homes as a share of owners’ income, and the share of potential buyers under age 35.
Trulia also considered the number of searches on its website for people looking to move to the area rather than out of it.
The website tempered its findings with expectations for a lukewarm market in general.
“After several years of breakneck appreciation following the end of the housing recession, the latter half of 2018 may have marked a turning point and the beginning of a return to more normalcy and balance in the market,” according to the report. “Next year will continue to bring more sanity to the market for homebuyers frustrated by years of stiff competition and chronically low inventory.”
[Related: New report identifies healthiest housing markets in Colorado]
Click through the following pages to see which cities also made the cut, and which neighborhoods in each have the most potential. Numbers in parentheses indicate a city’s rank in the list.
Danielle Andrus was previously the managing editor for Colorado Builder, and is currently Editor for the Journal of Financial Planning.