Nationally, the overall housing market is inching towards recovery as buyer interest and home price growth surpass pre-COVID19 levels — but more ground left to cover as growth in new supply and the pace of sales still lagging.

The overall recovery index is showing the greatest recovery in Denver, Boston, Seattle, San Francisco and San Diego, all five being established tech hubs with strong job markets pre-COVID.

An emerging pattern in the local recovery is the role of local economies. Indeed, this week’s data proves that markets with stronger job creation pre-COVID have had an edge on the path to recovery. Notably, the top 5 most-recovered housing markets carried more robust job markets last spring compared to the US overall, with unemployment rates at 2.7 vs 3.6 percent respectively in April 2019.

Like the rest of the country, these five have lost a significant amount of jobs since March, but their strength going into the COVID-19 slowdown has made them more resilient.

A significant part of this resiliency can be linked to job growth in the technology sector. Not coincidentally, most of these rapidly recovering markets also tend to be the same major tech hubs that bloomed over the last 15 years. According to a recent Brookings Institute study, just five top innovation metro areas, Boston, San Francisco, San Jose, Seattle, and San Diego, accounted for more than 90% of all technology jobs created in the U.S. during 2005 to 2017.

Denver was not far behind in the list of top hubs at number 8. As more tech companies weather the storm, and sustain, recover and create high paying jobs, demand for homes should remain strong in these hubs for the rest of the year.

Top 10 Most Recovered Markets – Week Ending June 13
1. Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO
2. Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH
3. Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA
4. San Francisco-Oakland et al, CA
5. San Diego-Carlsbad, CA
6. Rochester, NY
7. Las Vegas-Henderson-Paradise, NV
8. Los Angeles-Long Beach et al, CA
9. Austin-Round Rock, TX
10. Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI

Source: Realtor.com