Which state could be the best place to buy a home right now?
While states like California, Florida, and Texas often appear at the top of real estate sales lists, one unassuming state may offer the best opportunity to buy a home right now. Believe it or not, it’s Indiana.
Hannah Jones, an economic data analyst at Realtor.com stated, “Indiana housing markets offer home shoppers low prices, really strong economies, and good job prospects. These markets didn’t see the boom in popularity that many markets did during the [COVID-19] pandemic, so now is their time to shine. They’re now seeing high price growth, but they’re starting from a much lower point from other markets.”
Indiana boasts four markets leading the ‘Emerging Markets’ lists of popular metro areas. Lafayette, Fort Wayne, Elkhart, and South Bend all made the top 10, and all offer home prices that may be $90,000 to $160,000 less than the national median price. Also, all four metros are within a few hours of each other, and Northwest Indiana’s economy has seen a boom in recent years. They’re also only an hour away from Indianapolis, and a two-hour drive from the Chicagoland area.
If you’re looking for an affordable home in an area that has a growing economy, Indiana may have the opportunity you’re looking for.
Which U.S. city is the best for new home construction?
With 23,000 new home construction permits issued in the first half of the year, Houston, TX is the best city in the country for new builds.
On average, 5,766 home permits are issued every month in the Houston metro area. That’s the highest new permit rate in the nation, and one of the drivers behind new home construction in the Houston area. Houston also ranks first for new single-family homes with just under 15,400 new permits issued for the year as of June 2023.
Coming in second place on the list was Dallas/Fort Worth, and taking the bronze medal was New York City.
Why is the Chicago luxury apartment market booming?
While the Chicago housing market has seen similar growth to the rest of the nation in recent years, the luxury condo and apartment market is absolutely booming. Most high-rise buildings have penthouse condos that often come with a monthly rent of $10,000 per month or more. Emily Santos, an @properties Christie’s International Real Estate agent said, “Everything that rents for $30,000 or more gets occupied.”
There’s also another reason why luxury condos in Chicago are hot right now. They’re available. While the for-sale housing market has struggled with inventory, rental units are always there. It’s also been easier to finance a rental development than a condo development. Aaron Galvin, CEO of Luxury Living stated, “It’s been exponentially easier to get rental developments financed than to get condo developments financed. Developers are going to keep developing, so apartments are what’s been getting built.”
When asked about the impact of the rental market on the home sales market, Galvin said, “It’s absolutely true that (rental buildings) have impacted the for-sale market, because owning real estate in Chicago, especially in the downtown market, hasn’t proven to increase in value the way it did in generations past.
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