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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 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.
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