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TH E M R EP O RT | 51 O R I G I NAT I O N S E R V I C I N G DATA G O V E R N M E N T S E C O N DA R Y M A R K E T THE LATEST Nine Chicago Area Neighborhoods "Have It All" ONLY 25 NEIGHBORHOODS OUT OF 80 MAJOR U.S. MARKETS, MEET ALL OF HOMEBUYERS NEEDS ON A RECENT CHECK LIST. ILLINOIS // An affordable home for sale, highly rated schools, an easy commute, and plenty of inventory are the four major factors on a homebuyer's checklist for a homebuyer's dream neighborhood. But according to an analysis by brokerage firm Redfin, only 25 neighborhoods check all the four boxes across 80 major U.S. markets. The report released by Redfin found that more than half of the neighborhoods that "have it all" on the list are in the Chicago area, a rare major metro area that has remained relatively afford - able and has not been affected by the severe inventory shortage trend seen across the U.S. over the past few years. Neighborhoods in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston, and Miami also made the list. These neighborhoods were identified by Redfin on the basis of affordability, home selling speed, highly rated schools, tran - sit, and low crime rates. The report also said that the new tax bill, which caps state and local tax (SALT) deductions at $10,000, compounds affordability concerns especially in high-tax states like Illinois, where 14 of the 25 highlight - ed neighborhoods are located. "Our general rule of thumb in Chicago is to set aside about 2 per- cent of the sale price for local taxes each year. These are the same taxes that help the city maintain a world-class transit system and help its schools rank highly. This is one of the reasons why so many Chicago ZIP codes made it to the list," said Alex Haried, a Redfin Agent in Chicago. Dunning in Chicago was ranked first on the basis of this analysis, followed by Ashburn, Chicago. Squirrel Hill, Pittsburg; Jefferson Park, Chicago; and Elmwood Park, Chicago, rounded up the top 5 on this list of neighborhoods. Redfin said that Squirrel Hill ranked high due to its access to job centers. "Relocators have really tak - en kindly to Squirrel Hill not only because of the affordability, but also the commute. Google, Uber, and Carnegie Mellon University are large employers in the area and a short commute away via public transit," said Jennifer Sowers, a Redfin Agent in Pittsburg. Texas Tops Migration Trend Data DESPITE A HURRICANE SEASON THAT WRECKED MOST OF ITS COASTAL AREAS, TEXAS CONTINUED TO REMAIN AMERICA'S NO. 1 GROWTH STATE IN 2017. TEXASS // Texas was named America's No. 1 growth state in 2017, according to U-Haul's data analyzing the past year's U.S. migration trends. The moving and storage com - pany calculates this trend by the net gain of U-Haul truck rentals entering a state versus leaving the state during a calendar year. U-Haul bases its migration trends by tracking movements through its network across the 50 U.S. states and 10 Canadian provinces covering over 21,000 locations. Attributing some of the state's increase in overall U-Haul transac - tions to an active hurricane season, the report indicated that the year-over-year arrivals of one-way U-Haul truck rentals to Texas rose 1 percent, while departures climbed 3 percent from the 2016 numbers. Despite a larger year-over-year increase in departures, arriving trucks still accounted for 50.3 per - cent of all one-way U-Haul traffic in Texas to maintain its status as the top net-gain state for the second consecutive year. Texas secured the No. 1 growth ranking for 2016 after settling for the No. 39 spot for 2015. "You've heard the slogan 'Texas Strong' during the (Hurricane Harvey) recovery. We're not waiting for anyone to come with handouts. Everybody is help - ing everybody. We know that it happened. But you wouldn't be able to go through today and see that a hurricane hit. The recovery has been handled well," said Matt Merrill, President at the U-Haul Company of West Houston. Florida, Arkansas, South Carolina, and Tennessee rounded out the top five in the list. Other states to make it to the Top 10 included Washington, North Carolina, Connecticut, Colorado, and Vermont. The top 10 list showed a strong growth move - ment in the southeastern region. California overtook Illinois on the list as the biggest net-loss state, followed by Pennsylvania, Michigan, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. San Francisco Has Highest Rents SEE WHAT OTHER HOT MARKETS INVESTORS SHOULD TARGET. CALIFORNIA // ABODO, an apartment search tool and data aggregator on the rental market, recently released their Annual Rent Report, which covers national rental trends from December 2017 to January 2018. ABODO, sourcing the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, found that while homeownership has recov- ered from the housing crisis, renting still is the more popular option, with renters making up more than a third of U.S. households. Drawing on data from their more than 1 million listings across the U.S., ABODO calculated the median one-bedroom and two-bed- room rent price by city, state. This is powerful data for professionals looking to break into the growing single-family investment market. Unsurprising to those who live in this busting-at-the-seams city, San Francisco came in No. 1 for cities with the highest rents for one-bedroom apart- ment—beating out even pricey New York City ($3,333 a month vs. $2,811 a month). Filling out the top 10 was San Jose, California ($2,486); Boston, Massachusetts ($2,366); Washington, D.C. ($2,182); Los Angeles ($2,077); Oakland, California ($2,041); Chicago ($1,805); Miami ($1,768); and Santa Ana, California ($1, 722). In stark contrast, the lowest rent in the nation for a one- bedroom apartment can be found in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where residents pay on average $526 a month. Rounding out the 10 cit- ies with the lowest rents in the nation is Detroit ($534); Wichita, Kansas ($536); Toledo, Ohio ($545); Lubbock, Texas ($580); Tucson, Arizona ($593); Oklahoma, City ($638); Albuquerque, New Mexico ($653); Tulsa, Oklahoma ($655); and Cleveland, Ohio ($657). Many of the cities that made ABODO's top and bottom list for rents, also popped up when ABODO tracked the greatest average monthly rent changes. Washington, D.C. which was No. 5 in the list of 10 Highest Rents, made No. 9 for biggest monthly change in rent, jumping up 1.5 percent on average. Fort Wayne appeared again in the No. 1 spot, but this time for the biggest decrease in monthly rent change, dropping 2.8 percent on average. LOCAL EDITION DATA