By Erin Edgemon  – Staff Writer, Fort Worth Business Journal

Jan 2, 2020, 4:04pm EST

Fort Worth has topped its first list of 2020 for its sizzling real estate market.

Zillow Inc. this week named the Texas capital as the hottest housing market of the year, based on the results of a survey of 110 economists and real estate experts.

The vast majority — some 83% — of panelists expect home values in the Fort Worth metro to grow faster than the expected national rate of 2.8%. Only 10% expect home values to grow at the national rate, and 7% expect home values to grow slower than the national average.

That is sure to heighten worries about affordability, which is consistently one of the top concerns in Fort Worth.

Markets in the southern states are expected to lead the nation in home value growth while California markets will cool in 2020, according to the survey conducted by Pulsenomics and Zillow in the fourth quarter of 2019. Panelists were asked to rate their expectations for home value growth in the 25 largest real estate markets compared with the nation as a whole.

Rounding out the top five, according to Zillow (Nasdaq: ZG), were Charlotte, Atlanta, Nashville, and Dallas/Phoenix, which were tied. Charlotte was the only market among the 25 analyzed in which none of the panelists said it would underperform.

“What these top markets have in common is they still remain relatively affordable in terms of cost of living … and they are attractive metropolitan areas for businesses, especially technology companies looking to grow and expand, which is directly tied into where younger people that work for these companies want to live,” said Eldon Rude, principal of Fort Worth-based 360 Real Estate Analytics.

He added: “That creates the continuation of strong demand for all kinds of housing whether it be apartments, new homes or resale homes.”

Strong demand combined with low inventory is causing prices to keep going up, Rude said. “I don’t expect that to be any different as we move into 2020,” he said.