COLDWELL BANKER RANKS MAJOR COLLEGE FOOTBALL TOWN’S HOME
AFFORDABILITY
Coldwell Banker Takes It Downfield with Results From Fourth Annual College
Home Price Comparison Index
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Nov. 18, 2008) – As the college football season enters its most exciting time of the year, students and fans don school colors and cheer as their teams go helmet to helmet on the field. Celebrating this competitive spirit, especially as traditional rivals like Michigan and Ohio State play for the 105th time later this week, Coldwell Banker® jumps into the fray. The real estate company released its own set of rankings outlining the most expensive and affordable college towns across America in its fourth annual College Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI).
The Coldwell Banker College HPCI study found that while the University of Alabama is ranked No. 1 in the football polls, it is hardly on the same playing field as the No. 2 team, Texas Tech University, in regards to home affordability. In this year’s College HPCI, Texas Tech comes in as the No. 11 most affordable college in terms of home prices, while Alabama rolls in at No. 59.
According to the study, the average price of a 2,220-foot, 4 bedroom 2 ½ bath home with a family room and two car garage1 in Tuscaloosa, Ala. is $251,775 while the same home in Lubbock, Texas would cost $170,700.
Meanwhile, Stanford University and the University of Akron are each frontrunners on different spectrums of the home price ranking, holding titles of the most expensive and most affordable college towns, respectively. An average home in Palo Alto, Calif., costs approximately $1.74 million while the same home in Akron, Ohio averages at $135,780 – a $1.6 million price difference.
The Coldwell Banker College HPCI specifically examines the home market to the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) schools.
“I’ve always enjoyed seeing how colleges stack up over the years in football and academic rankings – and with this study, even in home affordability," said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “Our College HPCI survey is particularly helpful for a few growing groups of home buyers, such as baby boomers returning to live near their alma maters and families buying second homes in their favorite college towns.”
Gillespie, a 1968 graduate of the University of Illinois and avid Illini fan, also notes that the survey can be a guide for parents interested in buying homes for their college-aged sons and daughters – another emerging trend. “Purchasing real estate in college towns can be a very smart investment, especially when the family’s college student can live in the home,” he said. “Instead of pouring money into rent, the student can gain a sense of responsibility, and roommates can help cover the costs with rent payments, all while the home is appreciating in value over time. Real estate professionals have been doing this for years.”
The Coldwell Banker College HPCI data validates why more people may be deciding to purchase real estate in college towns where they will often find affordable homes. In fact, 65 percent of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) schools are in towns where the nicely sized subject home averages $300,000 or lower.
“When considering homeownership and college football, there are many win-wins,” Gillespie said. “But this year Muncie, Ind., stands out. It is the second most affordable town in the nation, and Ball State is currently ranked 17th by the BCS standings.”
Additional information about the original HPCI study, which ranked 315 markets across the United States and Puerto Rico in affordability for the same 2,200 square-foot subject home, is available at www.coldwellbanker.com.
2008 Coldwell Banker College HPCI – Highlights & Interesting Facts
- Three of the top 25 teams in the BCS standings also rank as the top 10 most affordable markets in the Coldwell Banker College HPCI – Ball State University, Texas Christian University and Oklahoma State University.
- Two of the top 25 football teams make the College HPCI top 10 most expensive list – the University of Miami and the University of Southern California.
- For the fourth year in a row, the Mid-American Conference ranks as the most affordable league, with an average home price of $207,952.
The top 10 most affordable college markets for home prices in 2008 are:
The top 10 most expensive college markets for home prices in 2008 are:
The following chart ranks Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A)
college football conferences by affordability:
The below chart ranks the BCS Top 25 college football teams in affordability:
The following charts rank Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) college football conferences and independent schools.
The most affordable conference is listed at the top and most expensive at the bottom.
Each school in the conference is listed with the most affordable at top:
Methodology – 2008 Coldwell Banker® College Market Home Price Comparison Index:
Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC conducted its College Home Price Comparison Index study by compiling survey data from Coldwell Banker® offices throughout the United States. Companies within the Coldwell Banker system submitted data based on the average sales price of sold listings in 2008 or a comparative market analysis of homes previously sold. Because no Coldwell Banker offices serve Tuscaloosa, Ala.; Stillwater, Okla.; Lincoln, Neb.; Charlottesville, Va.; Morgantown, W. Va., Bowling Green, Ohio; Athens, Ohio; Laramie, Wyo.; Troy, Ala.; Huntington, W. Va., Lawrence, Kan., and Ames, Iowa, the average prices reflected in the study were from local Multiple Listing Service data collected in August 2008. The criteria for the College HPCI1 subject home is: single-family dwelling, 2,200 square feet (approximately), four bedrooms, two and one-half baths, family room (or equivalent) and two-car garage in neighborhoods/zip codes within a market that is typical for corporate middle-management transferees. |
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ANNUAL COLDWELL BANKER HOME PRICE COMPARISON INDEX FINDS $1.7 MILLION DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NATION’S MOST EXPENSIVE AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING MARKETS
LA JOLLA, CALIF. VS. SIOUX CITY, IOWA: WATERFRONT LIVING DIFFERS FOR CITIES ON PACIFIC OCEAN AND MISSOURI RIVER
Annual Report of 398 Markets Includes 83 from Outside U.S.; Dubai Most Expensive Overall
PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Sept. 9, 2008) – Although both are waterfront cities, something besides the salt water separates La Jolla, Calif. on the Pacific Ocean from Sioux City, Iowa on the Missouri River – a $1.7 million dollar difference in the cost of homes studied in the 2008 Coldwell Banker® Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI). In an annual comparison of similar homes in 315 U.S. markets, La Jolla topped the chart as the most expensive real estate market in the nation with a $1,841,667 average home price. Sixteen hundred miles away in America’s heartland sits Sioux City, the most affordable real estate market in America, where a similar home would cost $133,459.
La Jolla and Sioux City are not alone in representing California and the Midwest. In fact, eight out of ten of the country’s most expensive housing markets are in California, and eight Midwestern cities make the list of the nation’s 10 most affordable home markets.
Differing from most housing reports which compare median prices, the annual Coldwell Banker HPCI, which first launched in the late 1980s, provides an apples-to-apple comparison of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in 315 markets across the United States, in addition to Puerto Rico, Canada and a sampling of countries/territories outside of North America where Coldwell Banker has a presence.
“This year’s study comes at an interesting time in our nation’s history with the impact of the housing correction and mortgage financing serving as critical economic issues in the presidential election,” says Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate. “While Americans move for lifestyle reasons, a home is usually a family’s most valuable investment asset. For those who want to get into the housing market, I believe this is the smartest time in my 33 years in real estate to buy a home. Combined with the amount of homes on the market and historically low interest rates, the correction in prices has brought affordability levels down.”
“Looking deep into the survey, half of the markets surveyed showed an average price for this very nice type of home to be less than $300,000 showcasing the affordability of homeownership across our nation,” continues Gillespie.
A “Snapshot” of U.S. Home Affordability
Offering a “snapshot” of affordability across the U.S., the Coldwell Banker HPCI evaluates average home values for select 2,200 square foot single-family dwellings with four bedrooms, two-and-one-half baths, a family room (or equivalent) and a two-car garage.
The cumulative average sales price of the four-bedroom homes surveyed in the 315 U.S. markets (including one in Puerto Rico) covered in the Coldwell Banker HPCI is $403,738, a 4.4 percent decline from the $422,343 reported in the 2007 Coldwell Banker study.
Through the comprehensive HPCI section on www.coldwellbanker.com, prospective home buyers and sellers can calculate what their homes may be worth in other areas in the United States and gather preliminary intelligence about the affordability of housing from one market to another.
2008 Coldwell Banker® HPCI – Highlights and Top Market Lists
• La Jolla, Calif., edges out Greenwich, Conn. ($1,787,000) and other West Coast markets as the most expensive U.S. market in the study. Also on the East Coast, Boston, Mass. ranks as the ninth most expensive ($1,493,750). Beverly Hills was the most expensive studies U.S. market last year at $2.21 million. Note: Manhattan in New York City was not included in the study because of the lack of comparable single-family homes.
• Candidate comparison: Barack Obama’s primary residence is Chicago, Ill., where the average home price is $863,300, whereas John McCain lives in Phoenix, Ariz., which averages $288,000.
• Swing states: Both candidates are likely to spend a large amount of time campaigning in several key “swing states” between now and November. The national economy and the housing market represent critical issues for many of these voters. The average price in each of those states is as follows: Colorado ($402,497), Florida ($357,596), Indiana ($224,906), Iowa ($196,134), Michigan ($201,291), Missouri ($212,850), Nevada ($287,375), New Hampshire ($401,697), New Mexico ($478,343), Ohio ($191,051), Pennsylvania ($332,955), Virginia ($309,070) and Wisconsin ($231,044).
• In total, 13 U.S. markets exceed the $1 million average price for the surveyed home. Joining Greenwich and Boston on that list outside of California is Wellesley, Mass. ($1.2 million).
• The Northeast Corridor (from Maine to Washington, D.C.) and California dominate all but five of the most expensive “top 40” U.S. markets slots – with just one town from those regions (Augusta, Maine) appearing among the top 40 most affordable markets. Texas, led by Arlington, has six of the study’s 40 most affordable markets.
• Canada mirrors the U.S. in that its costliest markets are primarily situated on the West Coast. Vancouver, British Columbia, tops the Canadian list, with comparable four-bedroom homes averaging $1,257,000 U.S. dollars. The most affordable studied market in Canada is Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ($157,000). The price difference between Vancouver and Charlottetown is a stunning $1,100,000.
• Dubai is the most expensive market studied outside of North America, where an HPCI subject home averages $2.45 million U.S. dollars, 33 percent higher than La Jolla. Coldwell Banker charts a total of 15 markets outside of the U.S. averaging more than $1 million, including Bucuresti, Romania ($1.9 million) and Madrid, Spain ($1.7 million). Quito, Ecuador, ($96,000) is the most affordable foreign market included in the survey. Nine markets altogether average less than $200,000 including Guayaquil and Samborondo, Ecuador. |