Whether you’re looking to buy a new home or interested in an investment property, it’s important to know the housing market.
For those who have extra cash, buying a home now could be a golden opportunity, according to WalletHub.com. The housing market is in a unique situation with mortgage rates only slightly above record lows.
It is important to note that home prices have been rising on average throughout the pandemic as well, but home prices and rental rates vary widely across the U.S. based on supply and demand.
If your goal is long-term growth, equity and profit, you’ll need to look beyond tangible factors like square footage and style. From an investor’s standpoint, they hold less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents.
To determine 2021′s Best and Worst Real Estate Markets, WalletHub compared 300 cities across two key dimensions: real estate market, and affordability and economic environment.
The financial website then evaluated those dimensions using 18 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100 point scale, with a score of 100 representing the healthiest housing market.
Each city was categorized according to the following population-size guidelines:
- Large city: More than 300,000 residents
- Midsize city: 150,000 to 300,000 residents
- Small city: Fewer than 150,000 residents
WalletHub ranked the cities all together and then separately by city size, so each has two rankings
The top area in Georgia was Athens-Clarke, ranking No. 85 overall with a score of 57.52. It fell into the small city category, where it was No. 29.
Roswell was No. 107 overall, with a score of 55.66. That score bumped it to No. 44 among small cities.
Atlanta finished No. 147, with an overall score of 53.63. When separated by city size, Atlanta came in at No. 30.
Augusta was No. 197, with a score of 50.66. Augusta was placed with midsize cities, where it finished No. 67.
WalletHub ranked Sandy Springs No. 230, with a score of 47.54. Among the nation’s small cities, it was ranked No. 102.
Savannah was No. 250, with a score of 45.64. This score put it at No. 112 among small cities.
Columbus ranked No. 263, with a score of 43.81. Columbus tied with nine other cities for having the highest share of seriously underwater mortgages, and had the third lowest home prices as a percentage of income.
“The pandemic has made people want more from their homes, so people who can work from home and afford housing in the current market have been very quick to buy,” said William R. Miles, research fellow with the Center for Real Estate and professor of economics in the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. “Often these homes are further from the center or close suburbs of major cities than before the pandemic.”
So, where are the best markets? According to WalletHub, five of the top 10 are in Texas: Frisco (1), Austin (2), McKinney (4), Denton (5) and Allen (6).
Clocking in at No. 300 was Hartford, Connecticut, with a score of only 26.17.
