Key facts
- The share of U.S. home sales near large data centers has more than doubled since 2018.
- This share is projected to reach 2.3% by 2026.
- New data center facilities are increasingly located in remote, less affluent communities.
- This trend raises concerns about local infrastructure.
- The data center boom is driving this increase in proximity to homes.
A recent analysis by Realtor.com reveals a significant increase in U.S. home sales located near large data centers. The share of these sales has more than doubled since 2018 and is projected to reach 2.3% of all U.S. home sales by the year 2026. This surge is attributed to the ongoing boom in data center construction.
New data center facilities are increasingly being established in more remote and less affluent communities. This development raises concerns about the strain on local infrastructure, such as power grids and internet connectivity, as well as the broader impact on these communities. The proximity of data centers to residential areas is becoming a more prominent factor in the housing market.
The expansion of data centers is driven by the growing demand for digital services, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, all of which require substantial computing power and storage. This demand necessitates the construction of more facilities, leading to their proliferation across the country, including in areas that may not have been previously considered prime locations for such industrial development.