Snubbed Amazon HQ2 finalists are still prime housing markets for 2019

Rejected or not, cities selected as finalists for Amazon's second headquarters are topping the charts of housing markets expected to overperform in 2019 as companies see the value in their proposals, according to Zillow.

Denver, Washington, Atlanta and Dallas were identified as the top markets expected to outperform the national average home price appreciation rate next year, according to a fourth-quarter Zillow survey of over 100 real estate economists and investment experts. All four metropolitan areas made the final cut for Amazon's HQ2 before New York City and Washington were tapped to divide the company's second home. Two other finalists — Boston and Nashville — also made the top 10 of markets expected to surpass the national average rate of home price growth next year.

Interestingly, Denver, Boston and Washington all fell behind the national home value appreciation rate this year.

"Amazon ultimately selected two of the country's most prominent hubs of commerce for their second and third headquarters, but many of the candidate cities that were not ultimately selected could see spillover gains in 2019," Aaron Terrazas, Zillow's senior economist, said in a press release.

"The groundwork that they undertook to entice Amazon will also be attractive for smaller employers increasingly strained by high and rising costs in traditional tech hubs. As mortgage rates rise, communities that can offer affordable workforce housing and reasonable commutes are likely to be long-term winners and should expect their housing markets to outperform the nation," he continued.

Las Vegas and Phoenix were two nonfinalists of Amazon's HQ2 that made the list of markets expected to see house values rise above the national rate of appreciation.

The anticipated rate of property value growth for 2019 is 3.8%, down from 4.2% a quarter ago.