Dive Brief:

• Nashville, TN, will be the hottest housing market in the U.S. this year, followed closely by Seattle and Provo, UT, according to a new report from real estate listing company Zillow that evaluated the cities based on home value appreciation, employment conditions and income growth.

• The top-10 list trends heavily West and features smaller markets away from the coasts, with three cities in Utah along with Denver, Sacramento, CA, and Portland, OR. Orlando, FL, and Knoxville, TN, round out the selection.

• While Zillow forecasts 3% home-value appreciation over the next year, the cities on the list expect growth ahead of that figure, ranging from 3.6% in Denver to 5.7% in Orlando.

Dive Insight:

Nashville’s property market has strengthened recently amid solid economic activity that has sparked a wave of new construction. Last month, for example, developers OliverMcMillan and Spectrum|Emery announced that construction on a $430 million, mixed-use retail, residential and office complex there will begin this spring. The project will be located at the site of the former Nashville Convention Center and is slated for completion in 2020.

In recognition of its growth potential, the city was recently named by BiggerPockets, a networking website for real estate investors, as one of the 10 U.S. markets where investors can expect big returns on residential real estate. It was joined by Denver, Portland and Seattle, among others.

Seattle, too, is experiencing a property boom, driven in large part by a robust job market. But the rise in demand for housing has put pressure on the city’s inventory, forcing home prices skyward. A recent report from real estate website Redfin listed Seattle as home to four of the top 10 and 10 of the top 30 most competitive neighborhoods for housing in the U.S.

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