Posted on December - 09 - 2010
Cranston one of nation’s most stable housing markets
NEW YORK – Cranston is one of the nation’s 20 most-stable housing markets, according to the latest Forbes’ ranking.
The list, “America’s Most Stable Housing Markets,” uses data from online real estate marketplace Zillow.com and highlights U.S. cities that have managed to maintain a healthy real estate market, bucking the national negative trend.
Zillow identified cities, with more than 10,000 residents, where home values had appreciated for at least three straight quarters, the rate of home sales was healthy and the foreclosure rates were lower than the metro area.
Home values are still well below their 2006 peak, Zillow said, adding that the average U.S. home is worth $178,000, down 26 percent from the high of $240,000.
“The housing market continues to suffer from broad macroeconomic conditions,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist at Zillow.com.
Humphries thinks prices are likely to fall another 5 percent to 7 percent nationally and bottom out in the middle of 2011 due to excess inventory, high rates of negative equity and high unemployment.
“Stable housing markets are out there, though. You just have to know where to look,” said Forbes.
One of those 20 “safe bets” is Cranston, with a median home value of $181,200.
“The 3.3 percent gain in Cranston home values in 2010 is the biggest increase of any city that made our stable housing markets list,” Forbes added.
Nevertheless, the Cranston median home value is well below other markets on the list, including Brookline, Mass., $489,500, Chino Hills, Calif., $464,600, Edina, Minn., $325,900, and Lemon Grove, Calif., $264,000. Bethel Park, Pa., is slightly lower at $155,100.
The priciest city to make the list was Manhattan Beach, Calif., the most-stable housing market in the Los Angeles metro area; the median home value was $1.2 million, three times the typical home price in L.A. The foreclosure rate, at one in 5,376 homes, is nonexistent for the city, Forbes said.
Another pricey California city to make the cut was Cupertino, Calif., home to Apple Inc. and its more than 20,000 employees. Homes there are worth $10.5 million on average, up 2.3 percent this year.
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