While housing demand is largest in the West, the majority of the most sustainable housing markets in the United States are east of the Mississippi River and likely to grow. That’s according to the latest Health of Housing Markets Report [1] by Nationwide [2].
According to the report, metros in Maryland and North and South Carolina are particularly poised for sustainable growth in home sales activity and house price appreciation in 2017. Several cities in New York also showed marked signs of improvement since last year.
These cities share common characteristics among the most sustainable housing markets such as affordability, solid job growth and falling delinquency rates, Nationwide reported.
"Despite rising home prices and interest rates, an increase in household formations, solid job growth, continued declines in delinquency rates and a still-low level of mortgage rates are all contributing to a sustainable housing market that should continue over the next year," said David Berson, Nationwide senior vice president and chief economist.
Dallas, Denver, Portland, and San Francisco, where growth has been strong in recent years, are least sustainable in terms of steady growth. These cities also are often among the top for inventory shortfalls.
Energy sector slowdowns continue to depress the housing outlooks in metros in energy-intensive areas, especially in North Dakota, Wyoming, Texas, and Louisiana, Nationwide reported. Three of the bottom 10 metro areas are in Texas, including Dallas and San Angelo. None of the bottom 10 were east of the Mississippi.
Stabilizing oil prices and employment readings, however, are likely to improve the housing metrics in these regions, the report stated.
Bismarck weakened the most of any American metro in terms of growth stability over the past year. Predominantly, the most weakened markets were in the Midwest, though Anchorage also showed signs of weakening in terms of growth sustainability.