SF Hits the Top 10 Again
Sometimes I think there are more Top 10 lists than there are people in this country. Every time I turn around there is a new list being published. This month is no exception. Forbes has done their research, examining 40 of the countries largest metropolitan areas, and SF had cracked the top ten yet again, this time in “Best Places to Buy a Home.” While it did not rank #1, and in fact is #8, this cannot come as any surprise, given the cost of homes in this area, which make it slightly less desirable than, say, Houston or St. Louis.
The criteria in this “scientific” study, was the rate of home price appreciation in the last two years and tightening vacancy rates, which apparently make for a good place to buy a home. Not a rental, not a flip, but an honest-to-goodness, gonna-live-in-it home. Also a factor was the price difference between a mortgage and a rental payment.
San Francisco has fared well in this down-turned market, and vacancies are always low, given rent control. Those units that do come available for rent are usually exorbitantly priced, making the mortgage payments look a little bearable. Conversely, San Jose came out on the bad end of this report, where an average monthly mortgage payment is $4300 vs the average rent of $1612.
Texas took the cake in this poll, though, with 4 of the top 10, which are
- Houston, Texas
- Austin, Texas
- St. Louis, Missouri
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- San Antonio, Texas
- Dallas, Texas
- Charlotte, North Carolina
- San Francisco, California
- Jacksonville, Florida
- Atlanta, Georgia
SF: One of the Top Ten Best, One of the Top Ten Most Expensive.. or Both? | Redfin San Francisco Sweet Digs said:
[...] Sweet Digs Classics « SF Hits the Top 10 Again [...]
July 28, 2008 8:15 PM
David said:
St. LOUIS????? WHAAAAAAAAAAT?
The same city where the population dropped from 815,000 to 353,000 in the past 40 years, a greater decline (percentage) than Detroit???
I call B.S.
July 28, 2008 9:49 PM
susan.brady said:
The criteria used was very narrow. Oh, and did I mention that in addition to Census data, that they used data from NAR? While the population decline in old St. Louie has been large over the years, in the last two it must have remained very stable. And no crime statistics, weather patterns, etc. were used in this “research.” So you take it with a grain of salt.
July 29, 2008 7:03 AM
David said:
Ok. I’ll stick to calling B.S. on this study:)
July 29, 2008 9:21 AM