Opportunity zones are booming. From the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, 55% of qualified opportunity zones saw a jump of at least 20% in median single-family home and condo prices, according to a new report from ATTOM Data Solutions. Home prices in distressed neighborhoods nationwide continue to keep up with the gains in the broader national housing market, the report notes.
Opportunity zones, established by Congress in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, offer investors tax breaks in exchange for making long-term investments in the revitalization of low-income federally designated neighborhoods nationwide.
Despite recent gains, typical home values in opportunity zones remain lower than those in most other neighborhoods across the country in the first quarter. The median price is less than the national median of $320,500 in 76% of the opportunity zones analyzed, according to the report. Of the zones tracked in the report, 35% had median prices less than $150,000 and another 15 percent had medians ranging from $150,000 to $199,999.
But some areas are seeing a large increase in opportunity zone prices. In the first quarter, the states with the largest portion of zones where median prices increased annually were in the West, led by Utah (median prices up, year over year, in 97% of zones), Arizona (97%), Nevada (93%), Oregon (88%) and Florida (87%).
The ATTOM Data Solutions report uncovered the following 10 opportunity zones based on median home prices above the national median of $320,500 and the greatest quarterly increases.
Source: ATTOM Data Solutions
