I also should be about a year out (maybe less) from having 20% equity in the home and being able to drop PMI, which would add +$71, thus putting me more in the positive at +$111/moThe area sees steady growth, very populated, 5 miles from RDU international airport, tons of shopping, etc.

I like the strategy of buying in cities with a steady job and population growth.

Population growth 2.

Many cities expect population to rise up to 50% in the next 5 years. 

Kansas City has shown great population growth, job growth, median HH income growth, and crime is on a downward trend.

Seems like you have a good grasp on market research, nonetheless here are a few metrics you can add to your search: - rental vacancy rate  - homeowner vacancy rate  - poverty rate - education attainment rate (high school/GED & Bachelors)   - number of housing unit - household income - rent to income ratio - rent to price ratio - population on SNAPS (supplemental nutrition assistance program) percentage  - prop tax rate  - median age of buildings - number of structures by units (SFR, duplex, tri, quad, etc

It's a choropleth map of Austin neighborhoods and their corresponding median home values:Seems like the further outside the city center you go the less expensive it become with the notable exception of the west side.As for assessing future neighborhood growth, I would look at trend data for various metrics such as population counts, educational attainment, poverty rate, household incomes, etc ...  

I like Kingston bc it has a high percentage of the population that rents and an overall low vacancy rate.

Broadly speaking, the biggest problem that I've seen in Connecticut, from an investment perspective, is that multifamily is still priced like it's a potential NY suburb instead of a quiet New England town with diminishing employment catalysts and population growth relative to its neighbors.

As I indicated, most people do not accurately predict the market so who knows how good my forecast will be but I do look at the various indicators in my forecasts (vacancy, unemployment, population movement, available land, cost for new development, etc.).