Archive for Real Estate

Top 10 College Towns … For Buying Foreclosures

I recently read this article Top 10 College Towns … for Buying Foreclosures, by Joel Cone, Foreclosure News Report. Based on their data, they found that the following College Towns were also good places to buy foreclosures. The list is as follows:

  • Stanford University – Palo Alto, CA
  • Ohio State University – Columbus, OH
  • University of Louisville – Louisville, KY
  • Northwestern University – Evanston, IL
  • Louisiana State Univeristy – Baton Rouge, LA
  • University of Arizona – Tuscon, AZ
  • University of Tennessee – Knoxville, TN
  • Florida State University – Tallahassee, FL
  • Texas Tech University – Lubbock, TX
  • University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, MI

Average % Discount

The article went on to say that foreclosures in these towns offered a 44% discount, and provided buyers with an endless pool of renters.

Top 25 Recession Proof Cities for Real Estate

Morgan Brennan, Forbes.com, published on August 16, 2011, a list of Top 25 Recession Resistant Cities for Real Estate.  The basis of the ranking was for recent increases in real estate values in 25 cities.  This isn’t to say that the economy is rebounding in those cities.  But rather, real estate seems to be showing some positive signs.

  1. Bay City, Michigan
  2. Fort Myers, Florida
  3. Pueblo, Colorado
  4. Spokane, Washington
  5. Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
  6. Port St. Lucie, Florida
  7. Sarasota, Florida
  8. Jacksonville, North Carolina
  9. State College, Pennsylvania
  10. Destin, Florida
  11. Battle Creek, Michigan
  12. Springfield, Massachusetts
  13. Boulder, Colorado
  14. Fort Collins, Colorado
  15. Nashville, Tennessee
  16. Champaign-Urbana, Illinois
  17. Greenville, South Carolina
  18. Punta Gorda, Florida
  19. Pensacola, Florida
  20. Durham, North Carolina
  21. Knoxville, Tennessee
  22. El Centro, California
  23. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
  24. Washington, D.C.
  25. Bend, Oregon

Now, I’m a visual learner.  So I took the Forbes Top 25 data and overlaid the Top 25 Metro areas in Google Maps.

The only cities that overlap both lists are:  Pittsburg (Forbes No. 5 and MSA No. 22) and Washington, DC (Forbes No. 24, and MSA No. 7).  Boulder and Denver are close, but not the same.

Florida has 7 cities in Forbes Top 25.  Colorado, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and  the combination of North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, all have multiple cities in close proximity.   One notable state without any cities in Forbes Top 25:  TEXAS.

These lists come and go, but it is interesting none-the-less to take current data and see what the trends show us today.