With home values up 5.2 percent from last year, but affordability dropping as mortgage rates get higher, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2019’s best real-estate markets.
To determine the most attractive real-estate markets in the U.S., WalletHub compared 300 cities across 23 key metrics. It said in a press release that the data set ranges from median home-price appreciation to home sales turnover rate to job growth.
The best markets were determined to be Boise, Idaho; Frisco, Texas; Overland Park, Kan.; Cary, N.C.; Denton, Texas; McKinney, Texas; Carrollton, Texas; Durham, N.C.; Allen, Texas and Fort Wayne, Ind.
The worst markets, according to the report, were Paterson, N.J.; Birmingham, Ala.; Baltimore; Peoria, Ill.; Jackson, Mo.; Elizabeth, N.J.; Miami Beach, Fla.; Dayton, Ohio; Detroit and Newark, N.J.
A best versus worst breakdown showed the following:
- Berkeley, Calif., has the lowest share of homes with negative equity, 1.17 percent, which is 32.8 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 38.36 percent.
- Berkeley, Calif., has the lowest average number of days until a house is sold, 34, which is 5.3 times lower than in New York, the city with the highest at 181.
- Centennial, Colo., has the lowest vacancy rate, 2.33 percent, which is 15.9 times lower than in Miami Beach, Fla., the city with the highest at 37.03 percent.
- Akron, Ohio, has the lowest home price as a share of income, 182.76 percent, which is 8.2 times lower than in Berkeley, Calif., the city with the highest at 1,504.06 percent.