Nashville is still one of the nation's hottest markets, according to Zillow.
To identify 2018's hottest housing markets, Zillow looked for places with quickly rising home values and rental prices, low unemployment rates, steady income growth and strong job opportunities with lots of people moving to the area.
Austin, Texas has the strongest population growth on the top 10 list, at 2.8 percent. Seattle has the highest forecasted rental appreciation, with rents in the metro expected to climb another 3.5 percent over the next 12 months.
But Nashville still ranks in the top 10, coming in at 8th on the list.
"This list shows that just because a market is smaller or more affordable doesn't mean it isn't dynamic," said Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas. "Growing cities in the Sun Belt, places like Raleigh, Charlotte and Nashville, offer plenty of opportunities health care and finance while providing a less-expensive, but still-convenient, alternative to the larger and pricier markets in the Northeast."
As us locals have known for a while: People keep moving to Middle Tennessee.
In fact, Tennessee was the No. 5 Growth State for 2017, according to U-Haul data analyzing the past year's U.S. migration trends.
U-Haul's data is backed up by the U.S. Census Bureau. Tennessee's population grew 1 percent from 2016-2016 and 5.8 percent from 2010 to 2017.
"Tennessee is flourishing everywhere you look," said Jeff Porter, U-Haul Company of Nashville president. "We're up 10 U-Haul dealers from last year and are looking for new locations for company-owned facilities. It doesn't matter if you like the big cities or the countryside. Tennessee has something for everyone. It is clear people are moving here."
Tennessee's cities with the highest number of one-way trucks were Maryville, Murfreesboro, Columbia, Lebanon, Athens, Clarksville, Oak Ridge and Brentwood paced Tennessee's net gain of one-way U-Haul trucks. Kingsport, Collierville and Franklin were among other notable cities to post strong net gains.
Porter cited the state's weather (maybe not now in January), hospitality and lack of an income tax, along with Nashville's draw, as reasons for the growth in Middle Tennessee.
For one, I think that TV show helped a little.
No matter why they are coming, there seems to be no way to slow them.
From 2016 to 2017, arrivals of one-way U-Haul truck rentals rose 6 percent while departures climbed 5.7 percent. This means more people were moving here than were leaving.
Arriving trucks accounted for 50.3 percent of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Tennessee to catapult its ranking seven spots in one year. Tennessee earned the No. 12 growth ranking for 2016 and was No. 34 for 2015.
Texas was the No. 1 Growth State for the second year in a row. Florida, Arkansas and South Carolina slotted just in front of Tennessee, and North Carolina ranked seventh, continuing a strong growth movement in the Southeast. California overtook Illinois on the list as the biggest net-loss state.
Growth States are calculated by the net gain of one-way U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving a state during a calendar year. Migration trends data is compiled from more than 1.7 million one-way U-Haul truck renta transactions that occur annually.
While migration trends do not correlate directly to population or economic growth, U-Haul growth data is an effective gauge of how well states and cities are attracting and maintaining residents.
View the complete top 50 rankings along with more migration trends reports, including U.S. Growth Cities, at myuhaulstory.com.
Michelle Willard is a freelance journalist who fills her days with social media marketing, politics and true crime podcasts, and taking complaints. You can complain to her on Twitter @MichWillard or by email michelle(at)murfreesborovoice.com.
