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Data center growth pushes more home sales near large facilities
Realtor.com estimates that, based on facilities in the construction pipeline through 2027, about 2.3% of U.S. home sales could occur within five miles of a large data center.
A Realtor.com analysis cited by HousingWire finds that the share of U.S. home sales occurring near large data centers has more than doubled since 2018, rising from 0.67% to about 1.5% by 2026. The increase is largely attributed to where data centers are being built, rather than to changing homebuyer preferences.
The analysis defines “large” data centers as facilities with at least 50 megawatts of capacity and looks at home sales within five miles of them. It also reports that the number of large data centers nationwide has climbed from 49 to 347, and that facilities are increasingly moving farther from major cities and into lower-income areas.
Realtor.com says home values near those facilities have largely tracked matched communities, with a new data center opening not associated with meaningfully higher or lower home values in the communities studied. At the same time, it flags growing infrastructure and policy concerns as facilities become larger and more power-intensive.
HousingWire also notes that Realtors.com expects the trend to continue as new construction comes online, projecting about 2.3% of home sales could be within five miles of a large data center based on the 2027 pipeline. The report adds that median openings in 2026 are surrounded by roughly 70% fewer residential units per square mile than facilities opened in 2017, and that the median 2027 openings are expected to be about 34 miles from the nearest major city center, compared with 27 miles for 2026.
Realtor.com says host communities are becoming less affluent, with ZIP codes containing facilities activated in 2026 showing incomes about 2.1% below the national median, and the 2027 pipeline expected to be about 5.7% below. It also points to a geographic expansion in the footprint, with 12 U.S. ZIP codes containing a large data center in 2015, rising to 108 by June 2026 and projected to reach 125 by year-end.