Major news outlets periodically publish housing data for US metro areas. This week’s version was reported by CNNMoney and is originally from Fiserv Lending Solutions. It’s a forecast of growth from April 2007 to April 2008 and a couple snapshot statistics. Although I’m not familiar with Fiserv, the forecasts are in line with others that I have seen since the beginning of the year.
There are two interesting points about our area in this report – homes in Greater Hartford are more affordable than in many other areas around the country and local home prices are expected to increase this year.
Some may be surprised to hear that housing in and around Hartford is actually affordable. The Fiserv data shows that median mortgages as a percentage of income are comparable to Springfield, MA and lower here than anywhere else in New England. Most of the places young professionals find desirable and exciting are considerably less affordable based on this statistic. Anecdotal data from friends and former business school classmates confirm the study’s conclusions. Our friends in the NYC, Boston, and Washington DC areas have considerably less buying power.
The other interesting result of the report is that home prices in the Hartford area are expected to appreciate 2.8% over the next year. Although the usual headline is that US housing is in big trouble, the reality is that real estate is a local industry so conditions are different around the country. Some markets are definitely losing value – typically they are the same ones that experienced such strong growth over the past few years. Most of New England is projected to either hold firm or decline slightly. The Cambridge, MA area is the only other region in NE expected to rise in value, though it’s growth forecast is less than half of Hartford’s.
So the Fiserv study shows that housing in Hartford is not only affordable compared to other metro areas, but that prices are going to be rising over the next year. It seems like the market is still in good shape and we should feel comfortable buying and selling.