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The
personal finance website WalletHub compared 300 cities using 17
real estate metrics to determine the ranking, including home
price appreciation and job growth.
At the bottom of the ranking for the worst real estate markets
at No. 300 is Peoria, with Rockford not far behind at No. 294.
Other Illinois cities include Chicago at No. 282, Joliet at No.
279, and Elgin at No. 277.
Analyst Jill Gonzalez said Illinois’ subpar labor market is
playing a role in the poor scores.
“When we are looking at things like job growth, we are seeing
very stagnate rates, or for the most part in Illinois, some
decreases in terms of jobs,” Gonzalez said.
Adding to Peoria’s worst in the country score was the high
number of underwater mortgages. The low scores for Rockford and
Joliet were affected by some of the highest foreclosure rates in
the country.
A combination of rising interest rates and increasing home
prices has slowed the market. The rate on a 30-year fixed
mortgage recently edged down to 5.13% from 5.22% the week prior,
according to Freddie Mac. While the rate remains lower than in
June, it is still nearly two percentage points higher than at
the beginning of the year.
According to WalletHub, the top three best places to buy a house
in the U.S. are Frisco, Texas, Allen, Texas, and McKinney,
Texas. In fact, six out of the top 10 cities are in the Lone
Star State.
“More jobs are going there, therefore more people are going
there,” Gonzalez said. “Taxes specifically I think play into
this as well, so when you are combining those two things, I
think it looks very attractive for a lot of people.”
The top Illinois market is Naperville, but the Chicago suburb is
only ranked at No. 190 in the country.
Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois
for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio
news reporting throughout the Midwest.
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