Analytics built by: Location, Inc.
Raw data sources: American Community Survey (U.S. Census Bureau), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Federal Housing Finance Agency.
Methodology: NeighborhoodScout uses over 600 characteristics to build a neighborhood profile… Read more about Scout's Real Estate Data
With a population of 651,073, 251,732 total housing units (homes and apartments), and a median house value of $121,161, house prices in Memphis are solidly below the national average.
Single-family detached homes are the single most common housing type in Memphis, accounting for 60.00% of the city's housing units. Other types of housing that are prevalent in Memphis include large apartment complexes or high rise apartments ( 24.87%), duplexes, homes converted to apartments or other small apartment buildings ( 9.32%), and a few row houses and other attached homes ( 4.75%).
The most prevalent building size and type in Memphis are three and four bedroom dwellings, chiefly found in single-family detached homes. The city has a mixture of owners and renters, with 45.49% owning and 54.51% renting.
At the end of World War II, American soldiers returned home triumphant and, with the help of the GI Bill, built homes by the millions on the edges of America's cities. These homes were predominantly capes and ranches, modest in size, but built to house a growing middle-class as the 20th century became the American century. Memphis's housing was primarily built during this period, from the '40s through the '60s. A full 42.68% of the city's housing hails from this era. Other housing ages represented in Memphis include homes built between 1970-1999 ( 40.60%) and housing constructed between 2000 and later ( 9.05%). There's also some housing in Memphis built before 1939 ( 7.67%).
Vacant housing appears to be an issue in Memphis. Fully 16.07% of the housing stock is classified as vacant. Left unchecked, vacant Memphis homes and apartments can be a drag on the real estate market, holding Memphis real estate prices below levels they could achieve if vacant housing was absorbed into the market and became occupied. Housing vacancy rates are a useful measure to consider, along with other things, if you are a home buyer or a real estate investor.
Appreciation rates for homes in Memphis have been tracking above average for the last ten years, according to NeighborhoodScout data. The cumulative appreciation rate over the ten years has been 62.73%, which ranks in the top 30% nationwide. This equates to an annual average Memphis house appreciation rate of 4.99%.
Appreciation rates are so strong in Memphis that despite a nationwide downturn in the housing market, Memphis real estate has continued to appreciate in value faster than most communities. Looking at just the latest twelve months, Memphis appreciation rates continue to be some of the highest in America, at 11.84%, which is higher than appreciation rates in 82.94% of the cities and towns in the nation. Based on the last twelve months, short-term real estate investors have found good fortune in Memphis. Memphis appreciation rates in the latest quarter were at 3.21%, which equates to an annual appreciation rate of 13.45%.
Relative to Tennessee, our data show that Memphis's latest annual appreciation rate is higher than 70% of the other cities and towns in Tennessee.
One very important thing to keep in mind is that these are average appreciation rates for the city. Individual neighborhoods within Memphis differ in their investment potential, sometimes by a great deal. Fortunately, you can use NeighborhoodScout to pinpoint the exact neighborhoods in Memphis - or in any city or town - that have the best track record of real estate appreciation, by the latest quarter, the last year, 2 years, 5 years, 10 years, or even since 2000, to assist you in making the best Memphis real estate investment or home purchase decisions.
Low for Nation
Very Low for TN