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MARKETS & TRENDS

ANALYSIS

Tacoma, Washington, downtown skyline at dusk on Commencement Bay.

TheUnusual Suspects A LOOK AT SOME DIFFERENT DEVELOPMENTS IN REAL ESTATE

by Ingo Winzer

Home Price Increase 2020

Average Home Price 2020

hen we discuss real estate markets that are doing well, we often find ourselves mentioning the usual

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suspects: Austin, Phoenix, Tampa, Salt Lake City, Charlotte. But 2020 was an unusual year in many ways so maybe it’s not surprising that it produced some different developments in real estate. Following several years of slower increases, home prices rose six percent in 2020, and among the markets with the strongest increase were these 10 that usually are not on our radar. (Yes, Austin, Phoenix, etc. were also there and the biggest increase, 14 percent, was in Boise.) A clue to the unexpected (by me, anyway) price increases in these markets may be the fairly modest level of local home values. Because they haven’t had strong economic growth for some time, demand for homes has been weak and new construction low. Buyers taking advantage of the record-low mortgage rates found the inventory low. All markets go through cycles of growth that drive real estate values up and down. The period of low economic growth in many of these markets may be over and they will see sustained demand for housing over the next few years, or the 2020 phenomenon may totally lie with interest rates and won’t recur; I don’t know which. 2021 is bound to produce some equally unusual results. • Ingo Winzer is president of Local Market Monitor, which analyzes conditions in 300 U.S. markets, using such economic data as home values and growth in employment and population. Winzer, who has analyzed real estate markets for more than 20 years, was a founder and executive vice president of First Research, an industry research company that was acquired by Dun & Bradstreet in March 2007. He is a graduate of MIT and holds an MBA in finance from Boston University. Winzer resides in Cambridge, Mass. www.localmarketmonitor.com

US Average

6.0% $332,300

10.8% $419,700

Tacoma, WA (pictured)

8.9% $345,500

Colorado Springs, CO

8.2% $248,400

Raleigh, NC

8.1% $196,800

Knoxville, TN

8.0% $256,200

San Diego, CA

8.0% $185,500

Dallas, TX

7.9% $245,500

Indianapolis, IN

7.7% $241,200

Denver, CO

7.7% $176,800

San Jose, CA

7.6% $196,200

Seattle, WA

LOCAL MARKET MONITOR, CARY NC

Our Investors Metro Analysis shows you the risks and opportunities in 200 local real estate markets at www.LocalMarketMonitor.com. Now with zip code rent data.

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