Fastest Growing MarketsThe fastest growing markets in terms of population should be of great interest to real estate investors. Rapid population growth is very important in generating a rapidly increasing demand for housing in an area. Strong increases in housind demand, can in turn trigger strong increases in housing prices if supply is slow to respond.
According to population estimates by the US Census Bureau, New York was the largest metropolitan area on July 1, 2006, with 18.8 million people, followed by Los Angeles with 13 million people and Chicago with 9.5 million. Fourteen metropolitan markets had populations of 4 million or more. The fastest growing market over the period 2000-2006 was St. George, in Utah, with a cumulative population increase of 39.8 percent. The other four markets completing the five fastest growing metropolitan areas included Greeley, CO, Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL, Bend, OR, and Las Vegas with rates ranging between 29 and 31%.
The ten fastest growing markets over the period 2000-2006 are the following: St. George, UT: 39.8% Greeley, CO: 31.0% Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL: 29.6% Bend, OR: 29.3% Las Vegas-Paradise, NV: 29.2% Provo-Orem, UT: 25.9% Naples-Marco Island, FL: 25.2% Raleigh-Cary, NC: 24.8% Gainesville, GA: 24.4% Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ: 24.2% The 50 fastest growing markets over the period 2000- 2006, increased their population by at least 13.8 percent, which is more than double the nation’s total population gain of 6.4 percent during the same time period. The market with the biggest percentage loss was New Orleans-Metairie-Kenner, LA, followed by Gulfport-Biloxi, Miss. (a loss of 7.4 percent) and Weirton- Steubenville, W.Va.-Ohio (a loss of 5.2 percent).
Fastest Growing Markets in Numerical TermsThe largest population increase in numerical terms (not percentage terms) among the nation’s 361 metro areas, was registered by the Atlanta metro area, which gained 890,000 residents over the period 2000-2006. Dallas-Fort Worth experienced the second largest numeric population increase 0f 842,000, reaching about 6 million people by July 2006. Houston, Phoenix, Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, were the other three of the top five fastest growing markets. The five metro areas experiencing the greatest numeric change between 2000 and 2006 were in the South or West. The New Orleans metropolitan area experienced the greatest population loss of 292,000 over the period 2000-2006. It was followed by Pittsburgh with a decrease of 60,000 and Cleveland with a decrease of 34,000. The ten metro areas with highest numerical growth over the period 2000-2006 are the following: Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA: 890,211 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX: 842,449 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX: 824,547 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ: 787,306 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA: 771,314 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA: 584,510 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA: 495,154 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-W.Va: 494,220 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL: 455,869 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill.-Ind.-WI: 407,133 Regional Distribution of GrowthThe 50 fastest-growing metro areas were almost evenly distributed between just two regions — 23 in the West and 25 in the South. One metro area, Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, Ark.-Mo., straddled both the South and Midwest regions. Sioux Falls, S.D., was the lone metro area among the top 50 fastest-growing located completely in the Midwest. Of the 50 fastest-growing metro areas, none were in the Northeast. York-Hanover, Pa., the fastest-growing metro area in the Northeast, ranked 95th. The Northeast metro area with the greatest numeric change between 2000 and 2006 was New York (seventh overall nationally), while the Midwest metro area with the greatest numeric change over the same period was Chicago (10th overall nationally).
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