TerraVue / Markets / Omaha, NE
Over the past 20 years, Omaha home prices have risen 3.60% a year; over the past three, 4.87%. TerraVue's forward estimate, which weights both, is 4.11%. That is essentially in line with the national average.
Appreciation is only one side of the buy-vs-rent question, but it's the side people guess at most badly. At the forward estimate of 4.11% a year, a home in Omaha would gain roughly 50% in value over a decade — before any of the costs that actually decide the question: closing costs, maintenance, property tax, the mortgage interest you'd pay, and what your down payment would have earned invested instead.
Worth being explicit about what that estimate is: it blends the 20-year record (3.60%) with the last three years (4.87%), so a market in a sharp recent run-up or correction lands between the two rather than at either extreme. It is an estimate, not a forecast anyone can guarantee — which is exactly why TerraVue simulates a range of outcomes instead of quoting one number.
Rent is the other side. At a median of $1,452, the yearly rent bill in Omaha is about $17,424. Whether buying beats that depends almost entirely on the price you'd pay and how long you'd stay — which is what the simulator is for.
This page describes the Omaha market as a whole. Whether buying beats renting depends on the price you'd pay, your down payment, and how long you'd stay — TerraVue simulates about 1,000 market scenarios on those inputs and returns the probability, not a single guessed number. It'll start with 68104's real appreciation and rent already loaded.
Analyze a property free →Averages hide a lot. Across Omaha's 27 ZIP codes, long-run appreciation ranges from 2.61% to 7.46% a year — a spread of 4.9 percentage points. Over a 10-year hold, that difference compounds into a substantially different outcome for two buyers in the same city.
| ZIP | Appreciation/yr | Recent 3yr | Rent | Bachelor's+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 68142 | 7.46% | 11.82% | — | 48% |
| 68107 | 5.75% | 8.20% | $1,003 | 9% |
| 68108 | 5.69% | 7.77% | $1,242 | 21% |
| 68110 | 5.47% | 7.52% | $932 | 10% |
| 68105 | 5.46% | 7.75% | $1,282 | 32% |
| 68117 | 4.90% | 6.80% | $1,700 | 13% |
| 68112 | 4.73% | 6.38% | $1,539 | 25% |
| 68111 | 4.58% | 4.48% | $1,423 | 12% |
| 68134 | 4.11% | 5.08% | $1,021 | 30% |
| 68127 | 4.06% | 4.91% | $1,138 | 36% |
| 68152 | 4.05% | 4.88% | $1,048 | 36% |
| 68132 | 4.03% | 4.47% | $1,380 | 60% |
| 68104 | 3.98% | 4.38% | $1,480 | 30% |
| 68144 | 3.93% | 4.39% | $1,276 | 46% |
| 68154 | 3.91% | 4.76% | $1,227 | 50% |
| 68022 | 3.86% | 4.68% | $1,708 | 61% |
| 68106 | 3.85% | 4.31% | $1,828 | 46% |
| 68124 | 3.82% | 4.19% | $1,716 | 55% |
| 68114 | 3.70% | 4.14% | $1,395 | 50% |
| 68164 | 3.69% | 3.98% | $1,362 | 44% |
| 68137 | 3.68% | 3.91% | $1,649 | 36% |
| 68116 | 3.63% | 4.31% | $1,756 | 54% |
| 68122 | 3.63% | 4.05% | $1,950 | 36% |
| 68130 | 3.55% | 3.94% | $1,628 | 61% |
| 68135 | 3.26% | 3.43% | $1,780 | 59% |
| 68118 | 3.24% | 3.50% | $1,579 | 62% |
| 68131 | 2.61% | 0.83% | $1,538 | 47% |
Sorted by long-run blended appreciation. Green is at least 0.5pp above the national average, red at least 0.5pp below; smaller gaps are left neutral. ZIPs shown as links have their own detail page.
Appreciation comes from the FHFA House Price Index — a repeat-sales index that tracks the same homes over time, which is why it isn't distorted by a change in the mix of what sold in a given year. TerraVue reads it at the ZIP level, back to 1975 where coverage allows.
The forward estimate blends 60% of the longest available look-back (20 years where available) with 40% of the most recent 3 years. Long-run history is the more reliable signal, but a market that has genuinely changed pace should not be ignored — the 60/40 split is the compromise, and it's the same figure TerraVue's simulation uses.
The national comparison is the population-weighted average of these same blended ZIP-level figures, so it compares like with like.
It depends on the price of the specific home and how long you'd stay. What the data settles is the market backdrop: over the past 20 years Omaha, NE home prices have risen about 3.60% a year, and TerraVue's forward estimate is 4.11% — above the national average of 4.02% — against a median rent near $1,452. TerraVue runs about 1,000 scenarios on a specific price to return the probability that buying beats renting, plus the breakeven year.
Over the past 20 years, about 3.60% a year; over the past three, 4.87%. TerraVue's forward estimate blends the two at 4.11%. All of it comes from FHFA repeat-sales data across 27 ZIP codes, and individual ZIPs range from 2.61% to 7.46% on that same forward basis.
68142 at 7.46% a year, versus 68131 at 2.61% — a spread of about 4.9 percentage points a year within the same city.
Around $1,452 — the median across the city's ZIP codes, from the rent estimate.