The National Association of Realtors® named Huntsville a Top 10 real estate market to watch in 2023. Rocket City made the list based on factors including affordability, job and population growth, “information industry” jobs with companies such as Google and Facebook, shares of workers teleworking, and more.
Earlier this year, the city of Huntsville also was named the best place to live in the United States, according to U.S. News & World Report.
U.S. News analyzed 150 large metropolitan areas in the U.S. to find the best places to live based on job market, housing affordability, quality of life, desirability and net migration. Huntsville, which topped the list with an overall score of 7, quality of life of 6.8 and value of 8.5, rose from the No. 3 spot on last year’s Best Places to Live list.
In addition to being the No. 1 Best Place to Live, U.S. News also named Huntsville the:
- No. 54 Best Place to Retire
- No. 1 Best Place to Live in Alabama
- No. 3 Most Affordable Place to Live
- No. 16 Fastest-Growing Place
Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist and senior vice president of research, forecasts that 4.78 million existing homes will be sold and prices will remain stable. Yun predicts home sales will decline by 6.8% compared to 2022 (5.13 million) and the median home price will reach $385,800 – an increase of just 0.3% from this year ($384,500).
NAR identified 10 real estate markets that it expects to outperform other metro areas in 2023. In order, the markets are as follows:
1. Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia
2. Raleigh, North Carolina
3. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas
4. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas-Missouri
5. Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, South Carolina
6. Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina
7. Huntsville, Alabama
8. Jacksonville, Florida
9. San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas
10. Knoxville, Tennessee
“The demand for housing continues to outpace supply,” Yun said. “The economic conditions in place in the top 10 U.S. markets, all of which are located in the South, provide the support for home prices to climb by at least 5% in 2023.”
NAR selected the top 10 real estate markets to watch in 2023 based on how they compared to the national average on the following economic indicators:
- better housing affordability
- greater numbers of renters who can afford to buy a median-priced home
- stronger job growth
- faster growth of information industry jobs
- higher shares of the information industry in the respective local GDPs
- migration gains
- shares of workers teleworking
- faster population growth
- faster growth of active housing inventory
- smaller housing shortages
If you have questions about today’s real estate market, reach out to Amanda Howard Sotheby’s International Realty at 256.799.9000.
