ATTOM Data Solutions’ recently released Special Opportunity Zones Joint Report with CityBldr spotlights 11 U.S. neighborhoods, spanning seven states and the District of Columbia, that offer some of the most attractive opportunities in the nation for housing developers to take advantage of federal reinvestment tax benefits, under the Tax Cut and Jobs Act established by Congress in 2017.
According to ATTOM’s most recent opportunity zones analysis developed with CityBldr, the widespread group of neighborhoods featured is comprised of mostly-impoverished, densely-packed urban areas that range from Anacostia in southeast Washington, DC, to the South Shore area of Chicago, IL, to City Heights in central San Diego, CA.
The special analysis states that other neighborhoods identified include Mid-City in central Los Angeles; Parramore in west-central Orlando, FL; Central District in eastern Seattle, WA; West Colfax in western Denver, CO; Spartan Keyes in eastern San Jose, CA; North End/New Center in northern Detroit, MI; Buckman/Kerns in southeastern Portland, OR; and Hilltop in central Tacoma, WA.
As noted in the report, most of the areas named stand out as notably poorer and more densely populated than the U.S. as a whole, with lower income and educational levels and far higher percentages of renters than homeowners. However, the report states that contributing to their economic potential, a few have above-average educational levels, and most have home values that far exceed the national median home price.
The report further states that according to data collected by ATTOM in the first half of 2020, the lowest median home prices are in North End/New Center in Detroit ($40,501), Parramore in Orlando ($105,000) and Hilltop in Tacoma ($217,000), while the highest are in Central District in Seattle ($795,500), Mid-City in Los Angeles ($860,750) and Spartan Keys in San Jose ($885,000).
Another key point featured in the joint report is the areas named have also seen a wide range of median home price increases and decreases over the past year, from nearly doubling in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood, to a drop of 12 percent in the Mid-City section of Los Angeles, according to ATTOM.
The report cites the largest increases in median home prices from the first half of 2019 to the first half of 2020, based on ATTOM data, were in North End/New Center in Detroit (up 25 percent), Parramore in Orlando (up 31 percent) and South Shore in Chicago (up 91 percent).
In this post, we rank the top 10 neighborhoods among those named as the best candidates for opportunity zone investments, by year-over-year percent change in median home prices from the first half of 2019 to the first half of 2020. The complete list of the top 10 includes: South Shore in Chicago, IL (up 91 percent); Parramore in Orlando, FL (up 31 percent); North End/New Center in Detroit, MI (up 25 percent); Anacostia in Washington DC (up 24 percent); City Heights in San Diego, CA (up 21 percent); City of Tacoma, WA (up 12 percent); West Colfax in Denver, CO (up 5 percent); Buckman/Kerns in Portland, OR (up 1 percent); Central District in Seattle, WA (down 2 percent); and Spartan Keyes in San Jose, CA (down 7 percent).
According to the report methodology, the overview of these opportunity zones looked at high redevelopment values defined by CityBldr in an analysis designed to showcase area that offer the greatest value to be gained by investors for building multifamily apartments, rowhomes or townhomes in those areas. The census tracts included in the analysis must also have sufficient home sales prices from ATTOM Data Solutions, to show a year-over-year and two-year median home sales price change. The other various data points mentioned in the report to help offer context for these opportunity zones came from Censusreporter.org.
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