Affordable Towns in the Midwest Top Emerging Housing Market Index
The index puts Lafayette/West Lafayette, Ind., in top spot.
College towns in the Midwest are plentiful in the latest WSJ/Realtor.com Spring 2023 Emerging Housing Markets Index, with West Lafayette, Ind. (Purdue) taking the No. 1 spot for the second quarter in a row.
It rated is just ahead of Bloomington, Ill., in this go-round.
The index analyzes key housing market data, as well as economic vitality and lifestyle metrics, to surface emerging housing markets that offer a high quality of life and are expected to see future home price appreciation.
Affordability is playing also a larger factor this quarter, given that home prices remain elevated, and inflation is easing, but is still well above the target level. Home list prices in all but two of the top 20 markets are lower than the median-priced U.S. home for sale, which was $424,000 in March.
The top 20 list included only one (Columbus, Ohio, 12th) that had more than a million residents. Omaha-Council Bluffs, Neb.-Iowa (8th), and Knoxville, Tenn., (20th) measure just under one million.
Falling out of the top 20 this quarter were Savannah, Ga., and Kingsport-Bristol, Tenn., as well as Portland-South Portland, Maine, and the midwestern markets of Springfield, Mo., Rapid City, S.D., Milwaukee, Wisc., and South Bend, Ind.
Thirteen in the top 20 were also in there in the winter 2022 sample.
Filling out the top 10 were Elkhart-Goshen, Ind. (third); Lebanon, Penn. (fourth); Fort Wayne, Ind. (fifth); Topeka, Kan. (sixth); Sioux City, Iowa-Neb.-S.D. (seventh); Springfield, Ill. (ninth); and Manchester-Nashua, N.H. (10th).
Charles Goodwin, Senior Director at Kiavi, a national, technology-enabled private lender to real estate investors, tells GlobeSt.com that the index ranks housing markets that offer a high quality of life and are expected to see future home price appreciation.
“For many Americans, owning a home equates to a high quality of life,” Goodwin said. “The Index skews toward Midwestern markets because of their relative affordability, making them ideal places for Americans looking for a home they can afford – along with ample space and a yard – to improve their quality of life.”
Additionally, he said that net migration trends fueled by the increase in remote work mean Americans can now choose to live in areas in which they can afford to purchase a home – rather than be tethered to more expensive/less-affordable larger metro areas close to the office.
“Real estate investors with rental properties are taking note of this as well by gravitating towards Midwestern markets like Indiana that are desirable for both renters seeking a high quality of life and investors seeking higher yields,” he said.