Buyers looking for a newly built home may find their best bet is in the South, where new construction has been heavily concentrated for several years. College towns and mid-size markets are also attracting buyers looking for newly constructed homes, thanks to healthy local economies and a favorable cost of living.
Realtor.com ranked the nation’s top 10 metros for new construction this year, looking at availability, affordability, sustainability and desirability of new homes in each market.
The Fayetteville, Arkansas, market, which includes Springdale and Rogers, topped Realtor.com’s list this year. Home to Walmart, Tyson Foods, the University of Arkansas and many other employers, the metro enjoys a thriving local economy, robust job market and a relatively low cost of living. The median price for a newly built home there is just under $400,000, which is 4.5% below the cost of existing homes in the market. Inventory is high in Fayetteville, and a focus on sustainability has reduced flood risk scores on new builds compared with existing homes in the area.
Second on the list is Boise City, Idaho, the lone representative of the West on Realtor.com’s ranking. More than half of sales for homes in Boise City are new builds, and new homes are priced lower than existing homes with a median listing price of about $541,000. Boise attracts buyers with its relative affordability and strong job market, especially in industries like government and technology and builders in the metro have strong new-construction offerings for people targeting the area.
Nashville, Tennessee, placed third on the list. This market, which includes Davidsons, Murfreesboro and Franklin, boasts a robust job market and plenty of new construction activity, with 37% of for-sale listings newly built. The median listing price in the market is about $541,000, which is a bit more expensive than existing homes that cost, on average, $511,111.
In fourth place is the McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, Texas metro, where the median new build is priced at $278,000, compared with the median existing home price of $261,000. New construction activity is strong in the area, with 27.8% of its for-sale inventory made up of new builds.
Rounding out the top five is Portland-South Portland, Maine, the only Northeastern region to crack the top 10. About 22% of for-sale listings are new builds in the coastal market, and homes are more affordable than in other areas of the Northeast. The median listing price of a newly built home is about $665,000 compared with $610,000 for existing homes.
Madison, Wisconsin, was next with a median listing price of $499,000 for a newly built home and a quarter of the market consisted of new builds. Greenville-Anderson- Greer, South Carolina, ranked seventh with a median listing price for new builds of $364,000, and Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, Texas, ranked eighth, with a median new home build priced at $462,000. Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, North Carolina-South Carolina, placed ninth with the median listing price for new construction at $463,000, and Raleigh-Cary, North Carolina, rounded out the top 10, hosting an average of $451,000.
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