News

Actions

STUDY: Phoenix area ranks second best in nation for places to own homes

Posted at 8:43 AM, Aug 31, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-31 11:43:29-04
Valley homeowners, you are some of the lucky ones.
 
According to a recent Bankrate study, Phoenix is the second best metro area in the country for homeowners.
 
The main positive attribute? Strong home-price appreciation.
 
Bankrate ranked the top 51 cities by reviewing these eight factors: home affordability, price appreciation, property taxes, homeowners' insurance, energy and maintenance costs, foreclosures and how rapidly rents rose over the past six years for which data are available. On a scale of 0-10, the Phoenix area scored higher than 7.5 on six of the eight categories.  
 
Phoenix was bested overall by Portland, Oregon -- which lead the way because of inexpensive homeowners' insurance, few foreclosures and low energy costs. See the full report here
 
"Major cities in the middle of the country did really well in this ranking," said Bankrate.com analyst Claes Bell, CFA. "Out of the top 15 metro areas, only one is within 250 miles of an ocean. Homeowners in America's largest coastal cities face a number of challenges, ranging from sky-high mortgage payments gobbling up an outsized portion of homeowners' incomes to high property insurance rates, especially in hurricane-prone areas, and our ranking reflects that."
 
Bankrate used data from ATTOM Data Solutions, Council for Community and Economic Research, Federal Housing Finance Agency, HomeAdvisor, National Association of Insurance Commissioners and National Association of Realtors.