Homeownership is a hallmark of American society. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis shows that 64.2 percent of homes in America are owner-occupied, and a Pew Research survey from 2016 found that 72 percent of renters would like to own a home at some time in the future. But the benefits to home ownership are different based on which state you live. Some states have seen fast-growing home values while others offer affordable mortgages, thanks to low property tax rates.
In order to find the best states for homeowners, the website SmartAsset (www.smartasset.com) looked at nine metrics: average price per square foot, the one-year percent change in value per square foot, foreclosures per 10,000 homes, average effective property tax rate, median annual property taxes, average closing costs, average homeowners insurance and the burglary rate.
Here are their top three key findings:
1. All the states in their top 10 are either in the West or the Midwest.
2. The only state which did not show any growth in home values from 2016 to 2017 was Alaska, where home values decreased by 0.4 percent.
3. Go Idaho!
As SmartAsset puts it:
The Gem State is a great place for homeowners looking to make a profit on their home investment. From 2016 to 2017, the value per square foot of the average home in Idaho increased by 9.3 percent. That is the sixth-fastest rate recorded in the study.
The state is also a fairly safe place to be a homeowner. Homeowners insurance costs are low here and Idaho has the 16th-lowest burglary rate in our study. Homeowners in it for the long-haul can rejoice as well: Idaho’s property tax rates are the 14th-lowest in our study.
Rounding out the other top-10 states for homeowners were Utah, Minnesota, Colorado, South Dakota, Michigan, Oregon, Wyoming, Nebraska and Wisconsin.
Source: www.smartasset.com