NAR Report Finds No Single “Data Center Effect” on Housing Markets

As data center development expands across the country, a new report from the National Association of REALTORS® finds that its impact on housing and real estate varies significantly from one community to another.

NAR’s 2026 Data Center Impact Report examines national, state and county level data along with feedback from REALTORS® working in markets where data centers are operating or under development.

The report found that data centers remain highly concentrated geographically. Approximately 92 percent of U.S. counties have no mapped data centers, while just 1 percent have 10 or more. Major concentrations are located in Northern Virginia, Silicon Valley, central Ohio, the Phoenix area and central Washington.

Counties with large concentrations of data centers generally have higher home values, household incomes and long term employment growth than counties without them. The median home value in counties with no data centers is $174,500, compared with $431,750 in counties with 10 or more.

Over the past decade, home values increased 95 percent in counties with 10 or more data centers compared with 64 percent in counties without them.

NAR cautions, however, that those numbers do not mean data centers are responsible for the difference. Many communities with significant data center development were already higher income, highly educated technology hubs before the recent expansion of the industry.

“There is no single data center effect. Instead, the story varies significantly depending on the local market,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.

Feedback from REALTORS® reinforces that conclusion. Among survey respondents, 38 percent reported having a data center operating or under development in their market. Twenty five percent saw a positive impact on nearby residential property values, while 22 percent reported a negative impact.

The effect on commercial real estate was more clearly positive. Half of respondents reported increases in nearby commercial property values, while 42 percent saw greater demand for commercial space, particularly industrial properties and land.

The growth of data centers also raises concerns about infrastructure and operating costs. Sixty one percent of REALTORS® surveyed cited energy costs as a concern for clients, while 56 percent pointed to water usage.

NAR’s analysis found that residential electricity rates increased 21.4 percent between 2020 and 2024 in counties with 10 or more data centers, compared with 15.7 percent in counties without data centers.

For REALTORS®, property owners and communities evaluating future data center development, NAR says local conditions and reliable market data remain critical. County level trends can provide important context, but they do not necessarily reflect the experience of an individual property located near a data center.



NAR currently has no official policy position on data centers. The organization said the research is intended to provide a better understanding of how the growing industry may affect housing, commercial real estate, local economies and communities.