Blog
Analysis and insights on housing markets and economic trends
What Happens to a Boom Town When the Boom Ends?
Bodie vanished, Houston reinvented itself, Williston kept its people. What decided each ending, and three questions to ask before buying in a hot county.
What to Look For When Moving to a New City: 5 Predictive Signals
The signals most relocation lists check measure where a place is today. These 5 tell you where it's going — and they're each checkable for any county.
Affordable Places to Live With Good Air Quality (2026)
Americans are leaving bad-air counties to cut costs, not chase clean skies. Here are the U.S. counties where good air and affordable homes actually overlap.
Why the 'Safest County in America' Keeps Changing
Ask which U.S. county is safest and the answer keeps changing — because in a small county one homicide swings the rate. Here's the statistics underneath it.
Why America's Safest Counties Cluster in the North
Of the 50 safest large U.S. counties, 41 sit in the Northeast or Midwest. The reason isn't the weather — it's county lines, wealth, and how deaths get counted.
Which States Are Losing Population — and Why Home Prices There Rarely Fall
A quarter of the U.S. counties we track are losing residents. In 86% of them, home prices are still rising. Here's why fewer people rarely means cheaper homes.
What Makes a Boom Town? Only 23 U.S. Counties Qualify
We ran 1,001 U.S. counties through a three-engine test — jobs, wages, and people all rising fast. Just 23 pass. And 10 of them are middling home-price bets.
The Cheapest States to Buy a Home Just Got an Insurance Tax
The states topping every "cheapest place to buy" list are where home insurance is rising fastest. Fold it in and the affordability edge nearly vanishes.
Are Home Prices Going Down? Your Paycheck Is Finally Winning
Wages outran home prices in 70% of U.S. counties last year. The biggest relief hit the Sun Belt boom towns that priced people out — with one catch.
The Movers Are Outrunning the Jobs: 29 of America's 30 Fastest-Growing Counties
In 29 of America's 30 fastest-growing counties, people are arriving faster than jobs. We dug into the BLS and Census data to explain why — and what it means before you move.
America's Population Growth Just Halved — and the Places Absorbing the Movers Rank Worst for Home Prices
New Census data shows U.S. population growth cut in half — and the Southern counties absorbing the domestic exodus are the ones our model ranks worst for home-price growth.
Bidding Wars Don't Predict Home-Price Growth
America's fiercest bidding wars and the counties our model forecasts to appreciate most barely overlap. Market heat measures scarcity, not future growth.