Colorado Springs’ housing markets gets top marks in two national studies

Aug. 28--View Comments

Get ready for more new neighbors; two new studies suggest Colorado Springs continues to have one of the nation's strongest housing markets.

A report released Monday by WalletHub, a personal finance website, ranked Colorado Springs as having the 19th best housing market out of 300 cities. And among 62 cities with populations of 300,000 or more, the Springs came in at No. 5.

WalletHub based its ranking on 21 factors that examined each city's housing market attractiveness and economic strength.

On the housing side, WalletHub looked at median prices, the average number of days it takes for houses to sell, foreclosure activity and building permit numbers, among other measurements.

Broader economic factors examined by WalletHub included population growth, housing affordability, job growth and unemployment rates.

WalletHub graded its metrics on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the healthiest housing market. A weighted average then was assigned for all of the metrics to come up with its rankings.

"If you aim for long-term growth, equity and profit," WalletHub said in introducing its report, "you'll need to look beyond tangible factors, such as square footage and style. Those factors certainly drive up property values. From an investor's standpoint, however, they hold far less significance than historical market trends and the economic health of residents."

In a similar study by the website last year, the Springs' housing market ranked No. 28 in the nation -- No. 7 among large cities.

In a separate study released last week, California real estate company ATTOM Data Solutions ranked the Springs No. 1 out of 122 metro areas as a place where homes are likely to sell -- either to newcomers or to move-up buyers.

The report is based on data analyzed for the second quarter of this year, which suggest Colorado Springs should see strong buying and selling activity in the third quarter.

ATTOM studied homebuyer loan applications in markets nationwide and compared them against each community's supply of homes. Using that information, ATTOM developed an index that measures the likelihood of homes being sold in each community within a 30-day period.

ATTOM released its first such index in June; at that time, Colorado Springs also ranked No. 1.

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Contact Rich Laden: 636-0228

Twitter: @richladen

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