What Amazon's HQ2 Could Mean For Indianapolis Rent Prices

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- While we wait for Amazon to decide between 20 cities, including Indianapolis, for its second North American headquarters location, the New York Times is reporting on what this would mean for rent prices in the winning area. According to the New York Times, a new analysis from Zillow estimates that rent prices in several cities would change if they landed the new Amazon campus. However, the report says Indianapolis wouldn't see an effect on its rent.

Why? According to the NYT, Zillow reports the population growth in Indianapolis has been slow and there are plenty of housing options. However, the closer you live near Amazon's campus, the more likely rent could increase, even though Zillow's study didn't look at the effect on prices of owner-occupied homes.

Most city leaders in Amazon's finalist spots have much more of an advance warning about the project than Seattle did (Amazon's first North American HQ location) and are focusing on persuading company leaders.

The NYT says Zillow does warn that these are rough estimates, based on a simple model that looks at how rents in each finalist city have responded to a big increase in workers and traffic. However, if the cities respond build more housing as a response then the impact on rents could be smaller than Zillow’s model estimates. The news report says Zillow's model also only looks at the effect of the jobs the new campus is expected to create.

RELATED:

• Amazon Officials Visited HQ2 Finalist Indianapolis Last Month
• Amazon HQ2 Shortlist Of Candidates Includes Indianapolis
• Bid Deadline For Second Amazon HQ Location

What about some of the other finalist cities? According to the Zillow analysis, Nashville would rise 3.3 percent per year if the city landed the Amazon campus, Denver at nearly 6 percent and Los Angeles and Boston even higher. Chicago wouldn't see too much of an increase.

See how landing Amazon's HQ2 in your city would impact area rent prices by viewing the report.

(David Ryder/Getty Images News/Getty Images)