As the nation’s unemployment rate falls, house prices are rising, resulting in a strong real estate market.
Experts say home values are up almost $16,000 on average in the first quarter of 2018. Analysts with the personal finance website WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes in 22 areas to compile the list of 2018’s Best and Worst Real Estate Markets.
Jill Gonzalez says Athens was in the top third, at 76th on the list.
"The homes are appreciating there, the home value forecast is about 5 percent, so in about a year, prices should rise by that much,” Gonzalez said.
Several factors were studied in determining the list.
“We looked at things like home price appreciation, the number of days until a house is sold, if homes are selling for a gain, if there are a lot of listings with price cuts, and how many people have fallen behind on mortgages.”
Analysts say fewer homes are being built and bought because mortgage rates are rising.
“As far as the affordability and economic environment, we looked at housing affordability; essentially home price as a percent of income, as well as other things that really draw people to a market like job growth, population growth and low unemployment and underemployment rate.”
Frisco Texas was best on the list, and Detroit, Michigan was at the bottom.
When it came to major cities, Seattle was number one, followed by Denver and Fort Worth, Texas.
For more info:
