Follow the Hipsters to Their Favorite Housing Markets Across America
Follow the Hipsters to Their Favorite Housing Markets Across America
Rasulovs/iStock
While not everyone is a fan of beards, pour-over coffee, and Vampire Weekend, when it comes to real estate, it might be a good idea to take a clue from the hipsters, according to new research from realtor.com® and Yelp.
The realtor.com economic data team leveraged its Market Hotness Index—which identifies hot real estate markets where homes are selling fast and users are checking out lots of listings—and mashed it up with Yelp data identifying the ZIP codes where the word “hipster” was used most often in user reviews, compared with the norm for that city. The result: the hottest hipster markets in America!
Not surprisingly, these hip hoods have plenty of features that appeal to millennials: affordable homes (well, in many places), good job prospects, and plenty of their peers. Those characteristics are solid building blocks for home value.
“Based on our research, there’s clear evidence that ‘hipster’ popularity in markets like Austin, Texas, has led to mainstream interest and higher home prices over time,” said Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com.
Ready to follow the cool kids? Here are the top 10 hot hipster markets.
1. Columbus, OH (Clintonville – 43202)
Median listing price: $269,455
Median household income: $44,007
County unemployment: 3.8%
Millennial share of population: 28.8%
Columbus offers much more than just Midwestern affordability. Home to Ohio State University, Columbus is rich in art, music, theater, museums, and culture, It has a strong economic ecosystem and a thriving startup scene, with nearly 72 startups for every 1,000 businesses in the area.
And here’s a surprise: After New York and Los Angeles, Columbus is home to more fashion designers than any other U.S. metro area, with a pipeline of young design talent coming from the Columbus College of Art & Design.
Lee Ritchie, a real estate agent with Re/Max Metro Plus based in Columbus, sees mostly millennial clients, professionals between the ages of 25 and 30 who typically are partnered but not married, and don’t (yet) have kids. They’re buying in the $250,000 to $500,000 range.
Clintonville, the Columbus neighborhood that topped our list, is a favorite with young buyers, thanks in no small part to its mix of affordability, walkability, and friendliness. Trendy cafes, bakeries, and home decor shops are popping up along its tree-lined streets. Most of the homes are detached single-family properties with yards that were built in the 1930s and 1940s.
Ritchie’s own first home was in Clintonville, and she paid $65,000 for it in the 1980s. Recently, it went on the market for $450,000.
“Clintonville’s not surburban, but it’s not urban,” she says, noting that it’s more common to be able to have a yard in this part of town. “It’s a nice compromise.”
2. Seattle, WA (Capitol Hill – 98122)
Median listing price: $756,653
Median household income: $65,367
County unemployment: 3.2%
Millennial share of population: 26.6%
Hipster Seattle? We’ve seen that movie before (paging Cameron Crowe). But the city that laid the groundwork for America’s love of pumpkin spice lattes and Nirvana in the 1990s is still going strong. Amazon has overtaken Microsoft as the big employer in the area, pulling tens of thousands of young technophiles to the city. Capitol Hill has a nice view of the city from on high—best glimpsed while sampling its many bars and restaurants. This neighborhood has a well-established gay community, and lots historic homes—including no shortage of awe-inspiring mansions. And yes, true to its rep, there are indeed lots of coffee shops.
3. San Diego, CA (North Park – 92104)
Median listing price: $597,000
Median household income: $55,130
County unemployment: 4.1%
Millennial share of population: 23%
Don’t be misled by San Diego’s laid-back, beachy style—its thriving startup scene lures plenty of young buyers and renters (many of them grads of the fine local universities). The culturally diverse neighborhood of North Park boasts an art district with monthly art walks, trendy bars with handcrafted cocktails and local brews, and foodie-approved eateries.
4. Fort Wayne, IN (46802*)
Median listing price: $163,925
Median household income: $29,591
County unemployment: 3.3%
Millennial share of population: 19.9%
Fort Wayne is an attractive place to live thanks to its good jobs and good home prices. Those prices have been heading up, like in the rest of the country, but they’re still affordable, says Ryan Dollens, a real estate agent at Imagine Real Estate, based in nearby New Haven, IN, who also runs the blog Living Fort Wayne.
The 46802 ZIP code includes Fort Wayne’s downtown, which has been expanding with new construction and new businesses. The TinCaps, the local minor-league baseball team, is credited with kicking off the trend when it built a stadium there in 2009 and condos and new businesses went up nearby.
“The downtown expansion and the development of new businesses are bringing back people or keeping people who would [have] gone to different cities,” Dollens says, noting that there’s also a community of artists.
5. Rochester, NY (Highland Park – 14620)
Median listing price: $154,925
Median household income: $43,550
County unemployment: 4.58%
Millennial share of population: 32.1%
Rochester’s Highland Park neighborhood is best known for its arboretum by the same name, which hosts an annual lilac festival that draws more than 500,000 people to appreciate the arboretum’s1,200 lilac bushes that come in 500 varieties. Outside those arboretum gates, Highland Park offers myriad cultural events, from Shakespeare in the Park to live music during the summer, creating a fun and tightly knit community.
6. San Francisco, CA (The Haight – 94117)
Median listing price: $1,396,500
Median household income: $111,817
County unemployment: 2.9%
Millennial share of population: 31%
7. Long Beach, CA (90814*)
Median listing price: $737,000
Median household income: $60,751
County unemployment: 4.5%
Millennial share of population: 19.2%
8. Louisville, KY (Schnitzelburg – 40217)
Median listing price: $173,950
Median household income: $53,143
County unemployment: 4.6%
Millennial share of population: 19.3%
9. Grand Rapids, MI (49506*)
Median listing price: $387,000
Median household income: $63,308
County unemployment: 3.2%
Millennial share of population: 13.8%
10. Colorado Springs, CO (80903*)
Median listing price: $337,000
Median household income: $37,215
County unemployment: 2.7%
Millennial share of population: 16.8%
See our full list of the 50 hottest hipster markets.
* Some ZIP codes are not aligned with a single named neighborhood.
The post Follow the Hipsters to Their Favorite Housing Markets Across America appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.
Source: Real Estate News and Advice – realtor.com » Real Estate News