As Mr. Claus prepares his naughty and nice list for next week, RealtyTrac did the same for housing markets across the U.S. in 2014. Key factors included school scores, and the rates for crime, unemployment, foreclosures and sex offenders. While housing affordability was not part of the score, it was also examined.
RealtyTrac focused on U.S. cities with a minimum 100,000 population and those with adequate data availability. From that list of 334 cities, 55 were included on the Nice list and 20 on the Naughty list.
A comparison of the underlying rating metrics is shown in the following table.
The following tables show top-10 Nicest and Naughtiest Markets as scored by RealtyTrac. Texas had six of the 10 best markets – but none of them were major cities. The Northeast, Rust Belt and two California cities combined to account for all of the Naughtiest.
To read the entire RealtryTrac article and see where the top 55 and bottom 20 markets are located click http://www.realtytrac.com/news/real-estate-investing/the-10-naughtiest-and-nicest-housing-markets/
Just like Santa, homebuyers are making a list and checking it twice.
Happy holidays and Merry Christmas.
Ted