Amazon HQ2: NoVa Gets Surprising Ranking

The Northern Virginia area may be topping a lot of lists when it comes to landing the coveted 2nd headquarters of online retail giant Amazon, but the region does not rank high in one surprising category: real estate. A new report from ATTOM Data Solutions, a firm that analyzes housing market numbers, released a list ranking the 20 finalists for Amazon's 2nd HQ in terms of their real estate.

The firm gave Raleigh the No. 1 overall spot among finalists, beating out Atlanta, Pittsburgh, and Nashville. That means that although the D.C. area has three spots on the list, they all finished well out of the top five. Northern Virginia, specifically, was ranked 13th -- just behind D.C.

Median home price and environmental hazard risk appeared to knock Northern Virginia down a few pegs. The median home price in NoVa is $395,000, placing it in the higher half of the list. The region's environmental hazard index was 58.37, fourth worst on the list.

However, price appreciation was relatively low at 14 percent. And NoVa has one of the lowest crime rates among all finalists and one of the best average school scores. It also has a low price-to-income ratio at 3.09.

The ATTOM study said the Amazon project could be a "game changer" for the winner's economy and housing market. It could bring as many as 50,000 jobs to the area, as well as a higher demand for more housing.

Amazon considered more than 200 proposals from various countries before announcing their 20 finalists in February. D.C., Northern Virginia, and Montgomery County, Md. all made the cut, with only Prince George's County getting the ax.

Click here to see how other cities ranked on the chart, and to learn more about methodology.

Additional reporting by Patch editor Daniel Hampton

Photo credit: David Ryder/Getty Images