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The South’s Best Cities On The Rise 2024

By Southern Living Editors

Updated on March 6, 2024

PHOTO:

LISA CORSON

According to the U.S. Census, the South is the place to be. Not only is it the most populous region in the country, it accounted for 87% of our country’s growth in 2023. Plus, the South is the only region that maintained population growth during the pandemic. Visit any of the places on this year's Best Cities On the Rise list and you’ll quickly understand why.

These reader-selected cities have excellent food scenes, cool yet quaint downtown districts, incredible natural beauty, thriving arts communities, and the warmth our region is known for. And they’re not done growing. Each one has exciting new projects on the horizon, like a minor-league baseball stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina, entertainment districts in Huntsville, Alabama and Alpharetta, Georgia, and even economic development, like electric vehicle manufacturing in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

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Published on February 27, 2024

Huntsville’s residential building boom appears to be catching its breath after years of construction at a furious pace. However, with continued growth in population and new jobs, forecasts indicate that 2024 will still be higher than the 10-year average for residential construction, a study from the City’s reveals.

Photo credit: GTEC/Marty Sellers

The showed the city’s population is continuing to grow even as the real estate market for single-family homes moderates. Data for this report was obtained from City records and the Valley Multiple Listing Service.

“The 2023 Development Review data is a good indicator of Huntsville’s economy. Residential and commercial sectors remain strong and well above our 10-year averages,” said Shane Davis, the City’s Director of Urban and Economic Development. “The data confirms our strategy of managing growth while maintaining a good quality of life.”

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By Candace Carlisle
CoStar News

August 7, 2023 | 4:27 P.M.

Huntsville, Alabama, tops a list of lesser-known and underdeveloped U.S. and Canadian markets that the world's largest real estate brokerage is betting has the strongest growth potential for technology companies.

The 25 smaller tech markets have talent pools for employers that might be looking to expand their geographical reach, according to CBRE's annual "Scoring Tech Talent" report.

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The 10 best cities to buy a home in 2023 are all in the South

Published Sun, Jan 22 20239:00 AM EST

Mike Winters@MIKEWINTRS

Even with rising homeownership costs squeezing out buyers, some real estate markets will remain hot in 2023, mostly due to their relative affordability compared with the rest of the U.S., a new forecast finds.

The top places have something else in common, too: They’re all located in the South.

Based on a variety of factors, including home affordability, job growth, migration gains and housing supply, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) analyzed 179 markets to determine which will offer the most value to buyers. The data looks back one year from October 2022 and reflects expected demand from buyers in 2023.

The median price of homes in some of these markets isn’t cheaper than the national median of $398,500. However, these cities scored high on other metrics such as job growth or housing supply.

Here are the 10 best places to buy a home in 2023, according to NAR:

7. Huntsville, Alabama

Median home price: $327,500

Alabama’s most populous city is the most affordable area for homes amongst this list. Just under 30% of renters can afford a typical home with a 10% down payment, which is almost twice the national average.

Growing job opportunities and low cost of living will continue to attract even more movers in 2023, according to NAR.

Read the full article HERE

NAR Forecasts 4.78 Million Existing-Home Sales, Stable Prices in 2023 December 13, 2022Media Contact: Troy Green 202-383-1042 Top 10 Real Estate Markets to Watch in 2023 and into the FutureNAR identified 10 real estate markets that it expects to outperform other metro areas in 2023. In order, the markets are as follows: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, Georgia Raleigh, North Carolina Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Arkansas- MissouriGreenville-Anderson-Mauldin, South Carolina Charleston-North Charleston, South Carolina Huntsville, Alabama Jacksonville, Florida San Antonio-New Braunfels, Texas Knoxville, Tennessee

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Best Places for Career Opportunities – 2022 Edition

2. Huntsville, AL

Huntsville, Alabama ranks in the top 10 metro areas for two metrics. It has the fifth-lowest May 2022 unemployment rate (1.9%) and ranks seventh-highest for income growth between professionals aged 25 to 44 and those aged 45 to 64 (25.85%). Additionally, overall median earnings for workers in the metro area increased by roughly 15% over a two-year period ending in 2021.

Read the full article HERE

• U.S.

Low-Cost Cities With Strong Economies Remain Attractive as Housing Market Slows

Remote workers willing to relocate help push small, affordable areas to the top of the latest WSJ/Realtor.com index

By Nicole FriedmanFollowUpdated July 26, 2022 2:33 pm ET

Low-cost cities with strong economies fared well in the second quarter as high prices and rising mortgage rates caused a swift slowdown in the housing market.

As remote or hybrid work schedules have become more common, households are willing to relocate for cheaper housing or a better quality of life. That migration helped push small, affordable markets to the top of the  The Wall Street Journal/Realtor.com Emerging Housing Markets Index in the second quarter.

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Best Places for Career Opportunities – 2022 Edition

Anja Solum JUL 27, 2022

Despite rising inflation and recent stock market instability, it’s still a job seeker’s market. There are roughly 11 million job openings available nationwide as of May 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). For the same month, there were 6.5 million hires. Data from June 2022 shows a 4% increase in the percentage of people who voluntarily left their jobs compared with one year ago.

With rising costs of living and a nationwide climate that is responding to the pandemic’s impact, some markets are better for those seeking new opportunities or looking to grow their careers. We sought to understand where job seekers have the best access to career opportunities.

To do this, SmartAsset looked at data for the largest 200 metro areas across nine metrics on topics such as employment, earnings, housing costs and access to career guidance. For details on our data sources and how we put all the information together to create our final rankings, read the Data and Methodology section below.

2. Huntsville, AL

Huntsville, Alabama ranks in the top 10 metro areas for two metrics. It has the fifth-lowest May 2022 unemployment rate (1.9%) and ranks seventh-highest for income growth between professionals aged 25 to 44 and those aged 45 to 64 (25.85%). Additionally, overall median earnings for workers in the metro area increased by roughly 15% over a two-year period ending in 2021.

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