Today Show real estate contributor Barbara Corcoran selected Pittsburgh this week as her #2 pick in "5 Housing Markets Ripe for Recovery." In choosing her top five, she looked for cities with affordable homes, a low rate of foreclosures, home price appreciation, a strong job market and low unemployment. Pittsburgh shone in all areas, she said, with foreclosures affecting only 1 in every 1,147 homes, unemployment at 7.8% but with a strong job market, and a median home price of $114,000. Median home prices in Pittsburgh are up 4.8% from 2008.
This comes on the heels of a February 2010 report from Forbes magazine, which put Pittsburgh atop its list of "best housing markets." In their commentary they explained they were looking for three key factors which make a housing market attractive: appreciating prices; an affordability rating that gives middle-class families with good credit the chance to get into the market; and a relatively low number of foreclosures. Pittsburgh has all three, they said. "In the metro area, 85% of homes are affordable to those making the median family income of $62,500. At the same time, foreclosures are low: Only one home is in foreclosure for every 120 housing units--the second-best record of all the cities we ranked; and home prices are expected to increase 2.67% by the end of the year."
Of course, Al Roker had to ask the requisite "Why Pittsburgh?" question. Isn't it about time for people to get over our old, dirty steel town image?
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