Houston was recently ranked as the 40th best place to own a home, a surprising placement considering homeowners’ perceptions of the city’s economics and real estate.
A survey conducted by Porch and Redfin ranked Houston tops in the nation in its economics metric and 15th out of 66 metros in the real estate metric.
Houston homeowners are more confident in their local economy to “provide jobs and continued opportunities” than anywhere else in the nation, the survey found.
The city’s top 20 real estate ranking was based on homeowners’ “generally satisfied” responses to three questions, which pertained to home price appreciation, affordability and the availability of homes for sale. In total, 119 Houston owners were polled.
Recent home sales data shows why homeowners should be confident in the city’s housing market.
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During the third quarter, the median home price jumped by 6.5 percent year-over-year to $215,000, according to a Texas Association of Realtors report. At the same time, affordability is still a reality, as more than 45 percent of homes that sold during the quarter were valued at less than $199,999.
In terms of home availability, the city’s inventory grew to 3.4 months during the quarter.
In order to be analyzed and ranked by Porch/Redfin, cities were required to have only 28 homeowner responses.
In addition to economics and real estate, all owners surveyed were asked questions that pertained to eight other metrics: climate, commute, economics, education, resident satisfaction, healthiness, safety, taxes and walkability.
Houston ranked 13th in the taxes metric, 34th in resident satisfaction and 44th in walkability. In the other metrics the city performed poorly in comparison to most metros: climate (52nd), healthiness (56th), safety (57th), commute (60th), education (60th).
