How to locate emerging markets

[Kyle Lane]

What would one look for to identify an emerging market, either for commercial or residential investment? I'm talking about areas that haven't yet started to boom and the price hasn't started to go up. I know this isn't going to have a simple answer, just looking for some direction.

[Brian Burke]

I suppose you could become a psychic, tarot card reader, or fortune teller...

Short of that, it simply boils down to realizing why markets "emerge", then watching for the signs and symptoms that characterize an emerging market.  This usually means following the news very closely and watching for corporate relocations, manufacturing plants coming to town, and job growth (most important).

Easier said than done, however. The problem is that one single catalyst does not an emerging market make. Instead, it is usually a cumulative effect of a sequence of events. Like multiple job moves, a growing industry for which that area is the hub, or numerous large-scale businesses building in that area. 

So the key is not to try to find the market where it hasn't started to boom yet (but is about to start).  That is as easy as finding Big Foot or the Loch Ness Monster. Instead, look for markets that are in the boom, but early enough in the process where, although already on the move, prices have a lot of runway left and you can ride the wave before it hits the shore and fizzles out.