ATTOM: Home price growth lags outside Opportunity Zones

Less than half of federally designated Opportunity Zones recorded year-over-year home price growth in the second quarter, slightly trailing comparable areas outside the zones, according to a new report from real estate data firm ATTOM.

Median single-family home and condominium prices rose from a year earlier in 46.3% of the 3,541 Opportunity Zone census tracts with enough sales data to analyze, ATTOM said. By comparison, prices increased in 49.8% of 56,432 census tracts outside the zones.

Opportunity Zones were created under the 2017 federal tax overhaul to encourage investment in economically distressed communities through tax incentives.

The report found that 51.8% of Opportunity Zone tracts with sufficient data posted quarterly price gains from the first to second quarter of 2026. In addition, 30% of Opportunity Zone tracts recorded home price growth of at least 10% from a year earlier.

That 10% threshold was slightly more common outside the zones, however, where 28.1% of tracts recorded double-digit annual price increases, according to ATTOM's data.

"We have generally seen Opportunity Zones move in step with the broader housing market, and that remains largely true today," ATTOM CEO Rob Barber said in a statement. "The second quarter suggests some cooling in these areas relative to the rest of the country, but the difference is still narrow enough that we'll be watching future quarters for confirmation before drawing broader conclusions."

Despite the relatively similar rates of price growth, homes in Opportunity Zones remained substantially less expensive than those elsewhere.

The national median price for single-family homes was $360,000 in the first quarter of 2026, the most recent national figure available, ATTOM said. Only 21.8% of Opportunity Zone tracts had typical home values above that level, compared with 49.6% of tracts outside the zones.

In the second quarter, 449 Opportunity Zone tracts, or 10.7% of the 4,183 included in the overall analysis, reached their highest median home value since the beginning of the Great Recession in 2008, according to ATTOM.

Price measurements in Opportunity Zones can also be volatile because many of the areas have relatively few home sales. Median prices fluctuated by more than 5% from one quarter to the next in 81% of the 3,141 Opportunity Zone tracts with sufficient data for a quarterly comparison.

Among states with at least 25 Opportunity Zone tracts with sufficient data, Oregon had the highest share of zones recording annual home price growth, at 57%. Maine followed at 54%, while South Carolina and Indiana each recorded 52% and Oklahoma recorded 50%.

ATTOM's second-quarter report also incorporated ResiScores for the first time. The artificial intelligence-based rankings estimate potential home price appreciation and identified several Opportunity Zones among the highest-scoring neighborhoods in major metropolitan areas.

Opportunity Zones in Chicago had a ResiScore of 98, while zones in New York and Houston scored 99, Los Angeles scored 96, and Dallas scored 97.

The scores suggest some Opportunity Zones could outperform other census tracts in their respective metropolitan areas, even as the broader group continues to trail areas outside the designated zones in current home price growth.

ATTOM analyzed 4,183 Opportunity Zone census tracts nationwide that had at least five home sales during the second quarter of 2026.