These Michigan Cities Among Worst Real-Estate Markets in U.S.

Real estate markets in Flint and Detroit remain sluggish, despite U.S. Census Bureau reports that show more homes were sold nationwide this past July than in nearly 10 years, according to a new report.

The personal-finance website WalletHub ranked Flint and Detroit 295th and 298th, respectively, in an analysis of real estate markets in 300 U.S. cities.

Only two cities Paterson and Newark, both in New Jersey, ranked lower than Detroit in the 2016’s Best Real-Estate Markets report.

Data used to determine the list ranged from “median home-price appreciation” to “housing affordability” to “job growth rate.” Read the methodology here.

Some key findings:

• San Mateo, CA, has the lowest percentage of homes with negative equity, 1.9 percent, which is 27 times lower than in Hartford, CT, the city with the highest, 51.2 percent.
• Berkeley, CA, has the lowest average number of days until a house is sold, 38, which is 4.9 times lower than in Paterson, NJ, the city with the highest, 186.
• Simi Valley, CA, has the lowest vacancy rate, 2.40 percent, which is 15.1 times lower than in Miami Beach, FL, the city with the highest, 36.17 percent.
• Detroit, MI, has the lowest home price as a percentage of income, 131 percent, which is 11.5 times lower than in Santa Monica, CA, the city with the highest, 1,508 percent.
• Austin, TX, Lincoln, NE, and Livonia, MI, have the lowest unemployment rate, 2.5 percent, which is 4.6 times lower than in Yuma, AZ, the city with the highest, 11.4 percent.

Texas dominated the list of the best real-estate markets, with Frisco, McKinney and Richardson ranking first, second and third, respectively. Austin ranked fifth, Allen ranked sixth and Plano ranked ninth.

Several other Michigan cities were ranked, including:

• No. 57: Grand Rapids
• No. 70: Ann Arbor
• No. 87: Sterling Heights
• No. 92: Livonia
• No. 172: Dearborn
• No. 204: Warren
• No. 206: Lansing

Also in the bottom 10 are Baltimore, MD, No. 291; Waterbury, CT, No. 292; Hartford, CT, No. 293; Fall River, MA, No. 294; Cleveland, OH, No. 296, and Elizabeth, NJ, No. 297.

Patch file photo