The way migration seems to be going it looks to me like the small towns will become the next ghost town and the major metropolitan markets will continue to have strong values (even if they drop) with demand being so high to live in these desirable places. 

Also, not sure if you are aware but most of NJ is seeing a mass migration out of the state.

Migration?

I'm looking to see city trends like-- Net migration, jobs, population and other demographic data?

With continued migration out of California, amazing weather, strong economy based on a huge retirement community, aerospace, a public university that includes huge medical training and a large biotech startup community, all signs point to another 30 year positive appreciation cycle. 

It's all about positive net migration.

I'm a native here (not too many of us lol) but the market is excellent for long-term holds and we currently lead the country in net migration and price appreciation and consistently do!

Internal migration, and particularly south, is very strong at the moment.

As a Canadian from Ontario, I am also interested in doing real estate investment on the side in the USA with plans to migrate there.

So if you think you need to keep that money close right now to sleep at night, do that.On the flip side though, nobody can time the market and although we've had quite the bull run Austin has a great profile-- strong in migration, low unemployment, and a booming tech sector.