Home value appreciation is ramping up in housing markets across the South, led by cities in Tennessee, Florida and Texas.
Nationwide, home values are up 7.2% year over year to $195,300, Zillow reported Thursday in its January Home Value Index.
Nashville experienced the highest year-over-year home value growth of the nation's largest metropolitan areas at 12.4%, followed by Portland, Ore., and Tampa, Fla., at 12.1% and 11.9%, respectively. Other cities that have seen home values rise by more than 10% over the past year include Dallas-Fort Worth, Orlando, Fla., and Seattle.
"We spend a lot of time focusing on the West Coast, but powerhouse markets exist throughout the country," Zillow Chief Economist Svenja Gudell said in a news release.
"Florida and Texas home values have grown quite a bit over the past several years, stealing the spotlight from slower moving markets like San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles. Slowdowns in the Bay Area, in particular, are driven by the fact that these markets are so expensive that many people can no longer realistically afford to buy there, limiting demand and reducing pressure on home values."
Looking ahead, Gudell predicted that home value growth will slow throughout the rest of 2017 as a result of rising mortgage rates and worsening affordability nationwide.
