As I was reading the newspaper this morning, two articles caught my eye.One was good news for our area and the second article was another commentary on the Home Valuation Code of Conduct which I will post separately momentarily as it warrants some comment from our AR community.
First - let's go with the good news!
Congratulations Lancaster PA!
Jill Simmons, a blogger on Zillow.com, has ranked our area as the 7th best place to buy a home in America in 2011. Great news for sellers and buyers in Lancaster County.
Zillow researched 125 communities in the US and measured:
- Affordability
Homes values here have held steady over the past years at approximately 3.1 times the median household income. The national average is 3.2 times.
- Unemployment
The latest Unemployment figures show Lancaster at 7.5 percent compared to 8.1 for Pennsylvania and 9.3 nationally.
- # of Foreclosures
Last year of the 4128 homes sold in Lancaster County, approximately 132 or 3 % were sold as “subject to short sale”, foreclosure or HUD owned properties.
- Price Appreciation
According to Zillow, home values fell at 2.6 % over the past year, compared to the national average which is 5%.
So what were the other Communities in the Top Ten?
1. Utica, NY
2. Oklahoma City, OK
3. Rochester, NY
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Tulsa, OK
6. Albany, NY
7. Lancaster, PA
8. Madison, WI
9. Green Bay, WI
10. Lincoln, NE
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