Good and plentiful jobs make good markets better for real estate investors. You’ll get little disagreement on that, as it stands to reason that where there are more jobs (and workers to fill them), you need more housing. The fallout from the recession and concurrent housing crisis means more and more of those workers are renters, as they look to rebuild their credit. And workers bringing home a regular paycheck generally can be counted on to pay the rent – on time! – and take care of the property.
Plus, where there’s a sustained need for housing, prices will appreciate more and faster.
A total of 255 metropolitan areas across 49 states and the District of Columbia qualified to be listed on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index (IMI) for July, released today. This is down slightly from the 263 metros that made the list in June, but is more than triple the number of metros that were on it in July of 2012.