By Andrew DePietro GOBankingRates.com
Real estate prices concern everyone, whether you own a home or are renting one.
Affordability and cost of living are crucial factors when trying to make long-term plans, find new jobs, or deciding where and when to make an investment.
Price bubbles come and go, and jobs move from one area to another.
To identify places with great housing affordability, GOBankingRates surveyed the 250 largest U.S. cities by population to determine where home prices are falling the most, according to Zillow’s most recent figures. Based on year-over-year changes in prices, five major cities saw prices fall by $9,000 or more. Here are the details:
Anchorage, Alaska
■April 2016 median list price: $324,600
■ April 2017 median list price: $314,900
■ Year-over-year change in median listing price: -$9,700
Anchorage was on a four-year streak of rising home prices until the end of 2016, according to Alaska Dispatch News. From April 2012 to April 2016, the median listing price surged by almost $82,000. Now prices are drifting back to earth a little bit, as the Alaskan economy softens thanks to lower oil prices.
Houston
■ April 2016 median list price: $329,900
■ April 2017 median list price: $319,000
■ Year-over-year change in median listing price: -$10,900
According to Metrostudy, the Houston area boasts the second-highest volume of new homes in the country, behind only Dallas-Fort Worth. New home starts are down year-over-year, though the site predicts 2018 to see more.
Looking at the overall Houston metro area, home prices have been falling slightly as well. The median listing price reached $294,000 in April 2015, then declined by $4,000 a year later and stands at $289,999 as of April 2017.
McAllen, Texas
■ April 2016 median list price: $220,000
■ April 2017 median list price: $205,000
■ Year-over-year change in median listing price: -$15,000
While prices have dropped substantially from 2016 to 2017, it’s difficult to say if this is part of a larger trend or just a hiccup. From April 2014 to 2015, the median listing price fell just $1,000 before a gain of more than $40,000, from $179,000 to $220,000 over the next year.
According to Builder Online, new home sales and new home closings are down year-over-year in McAllen. The housing market and economy in general of McAllen are closely tied to the border economy, as the city sits across the Rio Grande from Mexico. According to Arch MI, a mortgage insurance company, out of the top 100 largest cities in the U.S., McAllen ranks among the most affordable, so your paycheck will stretch further.
Miami
■ April 2016 median list price: $450,000
■ April 2017 median list price: $435,000
■ Year-over-year change in median listing price: -$15,000
Just as in McAllen, list prices in Miami have been volatile for the past three years. Home prices increased year-over-year from 2014 to 2015, and from 2015 to 2016, before falling last year.
Miami-Dade County saw declining residential home sales in the first quarter of this year. More concerning is the large oversupply of condos in the county, especially luxury condos, which is likely to lead to decreasing prices.
Sugar Land, Texas
■ April 2016 median list price: $415,495
■ April 2017 median list price: $399,500
■ Year-over-year change in median listing price: -$15,995
Sugar Land is a Houston-area suburb where home sales have declined significantly in the past two years. The median listing price reached a peak of $446,495 in December 2015 before falling about $30,000 by April 2016. Median list prices are now below $400,000.
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