Forbes Top 10 Best Cities for Borrowers
March 26, 2010
Behind the Numbers
To find the best cities for borrowers, we first determined which cities had the lowest effective mortgage rates–the mortgage rate including the upfront fees–using data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the federal agency in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
We wanted to find out where borrowers were doing well overall, not just where mortgage rates were lower, so for the 35 major housing markets that the FHFA tracks, we factored in the change–from January 2008 to January 2009, the most recent data available–in the percentage of homes in foreclosure.
We also ranked the year-over-year change in the percentage of homes that were 90 days or more delinquent–the so-called “shadow inventory” that is soon to end up clogging the market with foreclosures–for each corresponding Metropolitan Statistical Area. For that we used data from Lender Processing Services, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based mortgage industry service provider.
By ranking metros on those four measures and averaging those rankings, we arrived at a list of the top cities for borrowers.
Here are the 10 cities that Forbes ranks as the best for borrowers:
1. Kansas City, Mo.
2. Houston
3. Dallas
4. Virginia Beach, Va.
5. San Antonio, Texas
Average Effective Home Mortgage Rate: 5.12%
Mortgages 90+ Days Delinquent, January 2009: 2.7%
Mortgages 90+ Days Delinquent, January 2010: 3.9%
Foreclosures, January 2009: 0.8%
Foreclosures, January 2010: 1.3%
6. Boston
7. Pittsburgh
8. Denver
9. Seattle
10. Portland, Ore.
Source: Forbes.com, Francesca Levy
San Antonio One Of Only 17 Metropolitan Areas With Job Growth
March 18, 2010
The MetroMonitor, an interactive barometer of the health of America’s metropolitan economies, looks “beneath the hood” of national economic statistics to portray the diverse metropolitan landscape of recession and recovery across the country. It aims to enhance understanding of the local underpinnings of national economic trends, and to promote public- and private-sector responses to the downturn that take into account metropolitan areas’ distinct strengths and weaknesses.
This edition of the Monitor examines indicators through the fourth quarter of 2009 (ending in December) in the areas of employment, unemployment, output, home prices, and foreclosure rates for the nation’s 100 largest metropolitan areas. It finds that:
While the nation as a whole had almost no job growth during the last decade, 17 metropolitan areas had double-digit job growth and 34 lost jobs during that time. The 17 metropolitan areas with double-digit job growth from the fourth quarter of 1999 to the fourth quarter of 2009 were all located in the South or West: Austin, Bakersfield, Boise, Cape Coral, Charleston, Houston, Lakeland, Las Vegas, McAllen, Ogden, Orlando, Phoenix, Provo, Raleigh, Riverside, San Antonio, and Washington. Notably, several of these metropolitan areas suffered severe job losses during the Great Recession as a result of the collapse of their housing markets, but those losses made only a modest dent in the enormous job gains that occurred in these areas earlier in the decade. The 34 metropolitan areas that lost jobs during the decade were located mostly in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. They included not only metropolitan areas suffering from the continued loss of manufacturing jobs but also the high technology centers of San Jose and San Francisco.
Read the entire report at Brookings.edu
| Metropolitan area | Overall performance* |
| Albany-Schenectady-Troy, NY | Strongest 20 metros |
| Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC | Strongest 20 metros |
| Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX | Strongest 20 metros |
| Baton Rouge, LA | Strongest 20 metros |
| Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY | Strongest 20 metros |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX | Strongest 20 metros |
| El Paso, TX | Strongest 20 metros |
| Jackson, MS | Strongest 20 metros |
| Kansas City, MO-KS | Strongest 20 metros |
| Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | Strongest 20 metros |
| Madison, WI | Strongest 20 metros |
| McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX | Strongest 20 metros |
| Oklahoma City, OK | Strongest 20 metros |
| Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA | Strongest 20 metros |
| Rochester, NY | Strongest 20 metros |
| San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX | Strongest 20 metros |
| Syracuse, NY | Strongest 20 metros |
| Tulsa, OK | Strongest 20 metros |
| Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC | Strongest 20 metros |
| Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV | Strongest 20 metros |
Builder Magazine Ranks San Antonio 4th Healthiest Housing Markets for 2010
March 2, 2010
1. Austin-Round Rock, TX
2. Raleigh-Cary, NC
3. Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC
4. San Antonio, TX
Market Health Indicator: 43.1
2009 Total Building Permits: 6,099
2010 Building Permit Forecast: 7,341
Military installations account for three of the four biggest employers here–Lackland Air Force Base, Fort Sam Houston, and Randolph Air Force Base. They have helped keep the region’s unemployment rate a relatively low 7.11%, though the area did lose some jobs last year due to weakness in manufacturing. This trend is expected to turn around in 2010; a 2.3% increase in jobs is projected. Household growth has also been strong here. It came in at 2.2% in 2009 and should continue at that rate in 2010. With relatively affordable housing and a growing economy, San Antonio has earned a reputation as a great place to live. It is expected to gain another 2.2% of households in 2010. Single-family permits rose 20 percent during the fourth quarter of last year. Market Intelligence expects total building permits to rise at a 20% rate in 2010, reaching 7,341. By comparison, San Antonio produced 10,261 total building permits in 2008.
5. Charleston-North Charleston-Summerville, SC
6. Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO
7. Huntsville, AL
8. Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV
9. Durham-Chapel Hill, NC
10. Eugene-Springfield, OR
11. Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX
12. Richmond, VA
13. Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI
14. Colorado Springs, CO
15. Myrtle Beach-North Myrtle Beach-Conway, SC
16. Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA
17. Wilmington, NC
18. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX
19. Greenville-Mauldin-Easley, SC
20. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
Read the entire article “The 20 Healthiest Housing Markets for 2010″ at BuilderOnline.com
