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Spend the Money, Fix the Roads, Woo the Homebuyers

road under constructionRebuilding the national infrastructure was one of the major talking points for candidates on the Presidential campaign trail. That priority fell out of focus in 2017 as Congress put their energy toward first health care reform and then tax reform, with varying degrees of success. Infrastructure investment is a subject likely to factor in for potential homeowners considering moving and finding a home in a new city, and a new article by Next City highlights some of the American cities that put their money where their mouth is when it came to infrastructure funding in 2017.

Next City profiled five American cities that “went big” on infrastructure investments last year. Topping the list is Dallas, Texas, which approved a massive $1.05 billion in infrastructure investments during a bond vote in October 2017. Over half of that total will go toward improvements in city streets and bridges, as well as bike lanes and trails. The package also dedicates $20 million toward “transitional and permanent supportive housing to target chronic homelessness, rapid rehousing for the elderly, disabled and families with children and day centers for seamless wrap-around services.”

Other cities profiled for investing heavily in infrastructure last year include Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ($967 million); Denver, Colorado ($937 million); San Antonio, Texas ($850 million); and Raleigh, North Carolina ($200 million).

With most of those cities located in the South and Mountain West, they are prime targets for homebuyer migration. According to the United Van Lines 41st Annual National Movers Study, both regions saw high inbound migration in 2017. North Carolina and Colorado ranked eighth and ninth in terms of inbound moves for the year, respectively. Neither Texas nor Oklahoma cracked the top 10 inbound states per the study, but that level of infrastructure investment might just make them contenders in 2018.

Dallas did rank on Redfin’s recent list of the Top 10 Migration Destinations released in late 2017, coming in at seventh on their list of top 10 cities by net inflow. Dallas also has abundant residential construction, and Redfin found a correlation between that and net inflow of homebuyers.

With both housing demand and home prices expected to continue rising in 2018, there’s no doubt that prospective buyers looking to find a new city are going to consider a variety of factors before committing. A billion-dollar infrastructure commitment is bound to stand out during that kind of evaluation. You can read more of Next City’s breakdown by clicking here.

About Author: David Wharton

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