The federal Qualified Opportunity Zone tax incentive has been permanently renewed, with all 6,576 eligible census tracts receiving the designation, including 2,594 in rural areas, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the IRS announced Thursday.

“Enhanced incentives for investment in eligible rural communities were added, and a process was established for redesignating zones every ten years,” read a joint press release.

The new designations will take effect Jan. 1, 2027. The program provides federal tax incentives for investors who reinvest capital gains in economically distressed or underserved communities through certified Qualified Opportunity Funds.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent praised the move, saying it “permanently renewed and strengthened Opportunity Zones, giving investors, entrepreneurs, and local leaders the long-term certainty they need to commit capital to communities that have been overlooked for too long.”

Bessent added that the new designations “will help direct private investment to these communities, expand economic opportunity, support job creation, and unlock long-term growth in these communities across the country.”

Treasury and the IRS released a list of 25,332 census tracts eligible for nomination on April 6. Of those, 8,334 were in rural areas eligible for increased benefits as part of the Working Families Tax Cut Act, signed into law on July 4, 2025.

After the initial list was released, state governors and the mayor of the District of Columbia submitted an additional 130 eligible census tract nominations, of which 28 were in rural areas.

By the end of the statutory nomination period, 6,576 eligible census tracts had been nominated. All received the Opportunity Zone designation, which can help the communities attract new investment, create jobs, stimulate economic growth and provide meaningful opportunities for residents, Treasury said.

The extension and expansion give states “an opportunity to attract long-term investment into underserved, rural, and economically distressed areas,” said IRS CEO Frank Bisignano. “By designating thousands of new Qualified Opportunity Zones, the IRS and Treasury are enabling targeted investment and growth in communities where it is needed the most.”

Opportunity Zone home prices track closely with broader market

The federal announcement coincided with the release of a third-quarter 2026 report by real estate data analytics company Attom, which examined housing market trends in low-income census tracts designated as Opportunity Zones under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Attom looked at 3,805 census tracts in Opportunity Zones around the U.S. with sufficient data, defined as at least five home sales in the third quarter.

Among the 3,431 tracts with sufficient data in both the second and third quarters, median single-family home and condominium prices increased quarter over quarter in 1,651, or 48.1%. On a year-over-year basis, home prices increased in 1,598 of the 3,265 tracts, which equates to 48.9%.

Attom CEO Rob Barber said Opportunity Zones remain a relatively affordable segment of the housing market, with nearly 80% of the areas having median home prices below the national median.

“Even so, home values were only slightly less likely to rise in these areas in the third quarter, suggesting that many of these communities are still moving broadly with the market,” Barber said.

Attom also found that in the third quarter, 9.4% of Opportunity Zone census tracts recorded their highest median home values since the beginning of the 2008 financial crisis. Additionally, 27.1% of the tracts posted double-digit year-over-year growth in home values.