With 2020 being such a strange year, people are motivated to
find new ways to move forward with their lives. For some people, this involves
having to find new jobs and/or move to a different city or state. Mortgage
rates are hitting an all-time low, but individuals are still struggling
financially due to COVID-19. House and rental rates vary across the U.S. based
on supply and demand.WalletHub, a
personal-finance website, has released its report on 2020's best real
estate markets.
Historical market trends and the economic health of
residents should hold more value to home buyers/renters than tangible factors
such as square footage and style. To determine the best real-estate markets in
the U.S., the experts at WalletHub compared 300 cities based on two key
dimensions: "Real-Estate Market" and "Affordability and Economic Environment." Based
on the data, they set scores for each city, determined by 24 key factors. Some
of the more important factors were home values, days on the market, sales
turnover ratio, and building-permit activity.
WalletHub first ranked the best places to buy a house, then
they ranked the best place to buy a house by city size. A large city has more
than 300,000 residents. A midsize city has between 150,000 to 300,000
residents. A small city has fewer than 150,000 residents.
New Orleans ranked 261st overall best place to buy a house
and 58th best large city to buy a house. Out of a possible 100, New Orleans
scored 48.03. The Real-Estate Market rank for New Orleans was 260th, and the
Affordability and Economic Environment rank put the Big Easy in 173rd place. In
most categories, New Orleans ranked significantly low. These categories include
Percent of Homes With Negative Equity, with a ranking of 224th;
Average Days Until Sale, with a ranking of 255th; Median Home-Price
Appreciation, with a ranking of 227th; Job Growth Rate, with a ranking of 284th;
Foreclosure Rate, with a ranking of 232nd; and Percent of Delinquent Mortgage
Holders, with a ranking of 232nd.
However, there are categories in which New Orleans ranked a
bit higher, such as Home Price As Percentage of Income, with a ranking of 174th;
Population Growth Rate, with a ranking of 47th; and WalletHub's States With the
Best Health Infrastructure of Coronavirus, with a ranking of 120th. New Orleans
came in first place for the fewest unsold homes owned by the bank. Our city may
not be at the top, like Seattle, but it is not at the bottom like Miami, either.
In comparison, Seattle was ranked as the second overall best
place to buy a house and the number 1 best large city to buy a house. Miami
came in dead last on WalletHub's Best Real-Estate Market for 2020 list, with a
score of 37.07 out of 100.
