A roughly 40-mile drive from San Francisco, the city of Concord is attracting a number of new residents. A primary reason for Concord’s attractiveness: housing affordability.
The city was recently ranked by U-Haul as the nation’s top growth city for 2015. The moving company cited a steady stream of new arrivals to the city, roughly 7 percent more than in 2014.
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“Concord saw 57.2 percent of truck rental customers coming into the city as opposed to leaving,” U-Haul reported, explaining its rankings are determined by the net gain of incoming one-way U-Haul truck rentals versus outgoing rentals for the past calendar year.
Concord’s single-family market booming
The city is seeing an increase in new residents and some of these arrivals are impacting the single-family housing market in Contra Costa County’s largest city.
According to Renee White, an agent with Keller Williams Realty, most buyers that have recently moved to Concord first started their home search in nearby Walnut Creek. However, because of affordability they opt for Concord.
“In other outlying cities (of the Bay Area) they are getting out priced. You can save $150,000 going to Concord,” White said.
One reason for its affordability, the majority of Concord isn’t right next to a highway. According to White, there is a “significant price change” because the city isn’t on the freeway line.
According to Zillow, the median price of a home in the city stands at $493,900. However, White cautions that the city has two sides, likening it to Oakland.
“There’s a wide price point in Concord” she noted, adding the city’s existing home inventory is currently minimal.
Just outside of Concord, the city of Clayton, which has a population around 11,000, has recently been a hot submarket. Clayton is touted for its quality schools.
Those that move to Concord are typically commuting to San Francisco for work. Those looking to avoid vehicle traffic can utilize the city’s BART station. White pointed out that a number of companies are setting up satellite offices in nearby Walnut Creek, which is just down I-680.
Of note, the Roseville-Sacramento metro ranked as the second top U.S. growth city last year.
