The cities where homeowners will benefit the most if Amazon's second headquarters lands there

pulse

April 20, 2018 6:36 PM

Amazon's $5 billion second headquarters will likely raise home prices in the chosen city, which could be good news for homeowners.

A new report explores how much home values may rise in each of the top cities for
A dramatic rise in home values is usually not great for residents overall, but it's good news for homeowners looking to sell their properties.
Newark, New Jersey; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania could see the biggest gains in home values if Amazon chooses them, according to the analysis.
Home values will likely increase wherever HQ2 lands.

Twenty North American cities are competing to become a new home for Amazon, which which will start building a massive second headquarters, dubbed HQ2, in 2019.

The $5 billion campus, expected to bring 50,000 high-paying jobs, is bound to transform the character of the city where it lands. City-planning experts also expect HQ2 to bring soaring housing prices, with some areas seeing more dramatic rises than others.

As Seattle has seen, a large increase in housing prices may not be beneficial for the chosen city overall. W

A real-estate fund called Third Avenue is already making bets that HQ2 will land in the Washington, DC area. The fund recently bought $10 million in shares in JBG Smith, a real-estate investment trust working on a massive redevelopment in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Northern Virginia. Bloomberg reported this week that Third Avenue told investors its shares in properties near Washington, DC will "likely be worth a lot more than our current estimates" if Amazon comes.

"Washington, DC seems to rank near the top of the list," the fund wrote. "Should it ultimately be selected for its second headquarters, JBG Smith is likely to be a big winner as its Crystal City and Pentagon City locations are natural candidates for Amazon to utilize as it initially relocates employees to the region."