Fort Wayne Tops ‘Hottest Real Estate Markets’
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFort Wayne just opened its brand new riverfront Promenade Park to pomp and pageantry, hoping to make it a draw to Indiana’s second largest city. But now the Allen County community has something else to celebrate. The editors of realtor.com declared Fort Wayne as the hottest real estate market in July for the entire country.
As it turns out, two other Hoosier metropolitan areas are also attracting views to real estate’s MLS listings, Lafayette/West Lafayette and Elkhart/Goshen.
The hottest markets, according to realtor.com, "have a decent economy. They’re producing jobs. They’re growing," says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for Realtor.com. "They have lower home price tags, and they have more starter homes than other markets."
Vivas says smaller metro areas may lack “glitz, excitement and skyscrapers,” but they more than makeup for in affordability.
The online publication says Fort Wayne, with its number one slot, has been on the upswing, has a strong manufacturing sector and a burgeoning arts scene. Realtor.com says the city received near triple the views on realtor.com in July than other typical properties throughout the rest of the country.
"Many of the buyers we work with realize they might be able to buy a house and have a monthly mortgage payment less than the rent payment," said Beth Walker, a Fort Wayne–based real estate broker and president of the Upstate Alliance of Realtors.
Walker says move-in-ready homes, listed under $200,000, typically sell within 24 to 48 hours.
Lafayette and neighboring West Lafayette are number six on the list.
Jennifer O’Shea of Keller Williams Realty told the publication of Lafayette, "we are a very affordable market. Our economy is booming, so there are lots of opportunities for employment."
Elkhart and Goshen are ranked number 16, up 70 spots from the same period last year.
Click here to see which other cities made the top 20 list on realtor.com.