Coldwell Banker today announced that its first-ever College Market Home Price Comparison Index has found Lubbock, Texas, the home of the Red Raiders, to be the most affordable college town in the nation, with an average home price of $164,133.
At the other end of the scale was Palo Alto, Calif., home of Stanford University, which topped the charts as the most expensive college town in the index at $1,550,000.
The College Market HPCI evaluated average home values for a single-family dwelling in a middle-management community measuring approximately 2,200 square feet with four bedrooms, two and one-half baths, a family room (or equivalent) and two-car garage. The snapshot study examined 59 markets that are home to the premier college football programs in the country.
“College towns can be great places to live because they are family-friendly, lively communities with an abundance of activities ranging from sports and entertainment to high culture,” said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. “A large majority of these towns are also very affordable, making them ideal for first-time homeowners or Baby Boomers looking for a second home near their alma mater. And lately, many parents of college students are foregoing paying room and board to schools, preferring to own a home for their child to live in and collect rent from their roommates to apply to the mortgage.”
Gillespie noted that through an enhanced Home Price Comparison Index section on http://hpci.coldwellbanker.com/, consumers can calculate what their homes might be worth in these 59 college communities.
The Web site also includes data from the full Coldwell Banker HPCI report previously released on Sept. 22, which ranked 319 U.S. markets in affordability for the same 2,200-square-foot subject home. The average price for these 319 markets was $401,767, compared with $324,626 for the 59 college towns.
The top 10 most affordable college markets for home prices in 2005 are:
The top 10 most expensive college markets for home prices in 2005 are:
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