Monday, March 29, 2010

St. Louis region ranked in top 10 best housing markets

Our area is also a “best-bang-for-the-buck” and home prices edge up.

It seems as though St. Louis has a lock on the good news department lately. Our region was selected for two Forbes.com lists and home prices are moving up. If you’re shopping for a house, St. Louis is one of the best markets, according to Forbes.com. The magazine recently released their list of Top 10 Best Housing Markets and St. Louis landed in the number eight slot. The list is based on the stability of each metro area as measured by affordability rankings and foreclosure rates as an indicator of a lack of excess inventory, making the top cities what they call the best opportunities for home shoppers. The top 10 housing markets include: Pittsburgh, PA, Louisville, KY, Houston, TX, Minneapolis, MN, Indianapolis, IN, Memphis, TN, Columbus, OH, St. Louis, Dallas/Ft. Worth, TX and Austin, TX.

In another Forbes list, St. Louis made the “Best-Bang-For-The-Buck Cities” analysis. This top 100 list is based on solid housing markets, relatively stable employment, a low cost of living and quick commutes.

Home prices are on the way up too, growing for the second straight month in January–up 0.6%, according to real estate data firm First American Core Logic’s Home Price Index. In December the year-over-year increase was 1.54 percent, the first positive number after at least nine months of declines. Nationwide, prices are still falling, down 0.7 percent in January, according to First American.

All good news as we look forward to a spring surge in home sales.

Written by Myra Vandersall

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