Boise, Idaho ranked number one on WalletHubs best overall markets
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Here’s WalletHub’s 2020’s best real estate markets. WalletHub recently crunched the numbers on the best real estate markets comparing “300 cities of varying sizes across 24 key indicators of housing-market attractiveness and economic strength.” The current news of how well many markets are doing is a surprise considering where we were in March,” notes WalletHub’s Senior Analyst Jill Gonzalez.
In the overall ranking, the top five best places to buy a house in WalletHub’s 300 markets included Boise, ID, Seattle, WA, Frisco, TX, Nashville, TN, and Gilbert AZ. Boise consistently ranks in the best places to buy a home listings. Its quality of life is good combined with an affordable housing market. Currently, the median home value in Boise is $341,449. A move-in ready 4-bedroom single-family with a good-size yard was just listed at $369,000.
The findings are separated into 16 categories for a deeper dive. Berkeley, CA leads the list of Cities in the “Lowest Avg. Number of Days Until a House Is Sold” rankings. Other cities are San Francisco, Alexandria VA, San Jose, CA, Bellevue, and Renton WA. In Bellevue for $1,200000, you can own a 4-bedroom “move-in ready” 3,090 square foot home with expansive deck. In Berkeley, your money doesn’t go quite as far as in Bellevue. A 1,986 square foot home on 2,822 square foot lot is currently listed at $1,425,000.
If you are a buyer, you may be able to negotiate a good deal in the cities with the “Highest Avg. Number of Days Until a House is Sold.” These include New York, Miami, Yonkers, NY, Paterson NJ, and Miami Beach. Take Miami Beach where homes are moving slowly. In the Lakeview Miami Beach neighborhood, a 2,311 square foot “Art Deco Chic Family Residence” saw a $50,000 price cut to $1,200,000 at the beginning of August. It been on the market for almost 200 days. WalletHub’s Gonzalez speaks to buyers. “With record-low mortgage rates, this is a golden opportunity to buy especially in some areas.”
WalletHub also broke out cities with the “Highest Median Home Price Appreciation.” Those cities are Richmond and Oakland, CA, Hialeah, and Miami Gardens, FL. North Las Vegas, NV, and Grand Rapids, MI. According to Zillow Z , the average median home value in Grand Rapids increased 7 % over the last year to $186,941.
Looking at the “Lowest Median Home Price Appreciation” cities you will find Albany, NY, Stamford, CT, Springfield, IL, Little Rock, AR, and Erie, PA. According to Zillow, the average median home value in Stamford declined 1.4 % over the last year to $477,838.
Another interesting category is “Lowest % of Delinquent Mortgage Holders.” Four of the five top cities are some of the highest-priced markets in the country. Three are in California including Sunnyvale with an average home value of $1,708,311. Santa Monica with a median average home value of $1,738,248. San Francisco is on that list where the average home price is $1,447,191. “The numbers show that how well a market is doing depends so much on where it is. We some cities where houses are selling immediately while others are still sitting for months,” Gonzalez observes.
One thing is certain real estate markets can change from hot to not in weeks. During a pandemic where uncertainty is certain anything can happen.