The pandemic spurred millions of Americans to abandon city life, fleeing to the ‘burbs. A new report highlights a novel destination for would-be homeowners to consider: The R.V. capital of the world.
The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index, released Tuesday, ranked Elkhart-Goshen, Ind., as the top housing market.
(Realtor.com is owned by the same parent company as MarketWatch.)
The northern Indiana city is known to produce as much as 80% of recreational vehicles globally, with manufacturers headquartered in the city. These include companies like Jayco, Keystone, and more. The metro area has one of the lowest unemployment rates compared to others on the index, at 1.6%, the report said.
“The median list price for a home in Elkhart-Goshen was $279,450 in June, which was up 17.2% from the previous year.”
The median list price for a home in Elkhart-Goshen was $279,450 in June, which was up 17.2% from the previous year, according to Realtor.com.
The index analyzes the 300 largest metropolitan areas across the country in an effort to highlight housing markets that are poised to benefit homeowners and investors alike.
Each housing market is evaluated based on a range of factors related to real estate, economic vitality and quality of life. The top emerging markets represent places where home-price growth is expected to be stellar, while also having other attractive amenities.
“The top emerging markets represent places where home-price growth is expected to be stellar, while also having other attractive amenities.”
This quarter, the northern Indiana area of Elkhart-Goshen took the top spot, followed by Burlington, N.C., Johnson City, Tenn., and Fort Wayne, Ind.
The report spotlights mid-sized cities as great emerging destinations to buy a home. Nine of the top 20 cities have populations below 250,000.
Here’s the full list:
- Elkhart-Goshen, Ind.
- Burlington, N.C.
- Johnson City, Tenn.
- Fort Wayne, Ind.
- Billings, Mont.
- Raleigh, N.C.
- Rapid City, S.D.
- North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.
- Topeka, Kan.
- Visalia-Porterville, Calif.
- Fort Collins, Colo.
- Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C.
- Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif.
- Boulder, Colo.
- Huntsville, Ala.
- Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.
- Eureka-Arcata-Fortuna, Calif.
- Jefferson City, Mo.
- Elizabethtown-Fort Knox, Ky.
- Colorado Springs, Colo.
Write to MarketWatch reporter Aarthi Swaminathan at aarthi@marketwatch.com.