Salt Lake City and Denver have more in common than the fact they are big cities, near big mountains. That is according to new data from realtor.com. “Salt Lake City's housing market is seeing the same rapid growth patterns that occurred in Denver in early 2015 and 2016 and that drove the city to the top of the nation's hot housing markets,” the data says.

The Salt Lake City metropolitan area is projected to have one of the strongest housing markets in the country in 2018, with home prices and sales expected to reach 4.5% and 4.6% growth, respectively, over last year, says realtor.com. Just like Denver, the factors driving its strength are a growing economy, relative affordability and an increasing millennial population. In fact, the company says that with home prices growing three times faster and supply moving a full week faster in the span of a year, Salt Lake City resembles Denver at the beginning of its boom.

“In just a handful of years, an influx of jobs and millennials drove Denver's housing market from strong and stable to rising like the Rockies,” says Javier Vivas, director of economic research for realtor.com. “If Salt Lake City is able to continue generating jobs and attracting well-educated young people, the market has the potential to continue to climb to 'Mile High City'-type heights.”