These Will be The 15 Best Housing Markets For The Next 5 Years

The housing market is more affordable than it has been in the last 40 years and house prices are expected to bottom later this year (down 36 percent from 6 years ago), Business Insider’s (BI) Mamta Badkar reports.

BI's report is based on a recent study from Fiserv Case-Shiller, a group that “measure[s] the average change in home prices in a particular geographic market, covering more than 3,000 zip codes, 300 counties and 100 metropolitan areas,” according to its website.

And according to BI, the Fiserv Case-Shiller data can be used to identify the best housing markets for the next five years -- which is exactly what they do.

“The 15 cities are ranked by the projected annualized change in home prices between Q4 2011 and 2016,” Badkar writes, “We also included the median home price, median household income, unemployment rate, and the change in home prices since their peak to give a better scope of the housing market.”

Here are the 15 best housing markets for the next five years [all block quotes from Business Insider, data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes]:

15. Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta, California

Annualized expected growth from 2011 - 2016: 7.4 percent

Home prices have declined 51.0 percent in the Santa Barbara-Santa Maria-Goleta metro area since they peaked in Q3 2005. The median home price is $266,000 which is much higher than the national median of $163,000.

The metro's 8.3 percent unemployment rate is in line with the national average, and it has a median household income of $68,800 above the national median of $63,000.

14. Port St. Lucie, Florida

Annualized expected growth from 2011 - 2016: 7.5 percent

Home prices have fallen 55.8 percent in the Port St. Lucie metro area since their peak in Q1 2006. It has an unemployment rate of 11.0 percent and a median family income of $51,700 that is higher than the national median.

The median home price in Port St. Luice is $130,000.

13. Modesto, California

Annualized expected growth from 2011 - 2016: 7.5 percent

Modesto home prices have dived 64.4 percent since their Q1 2006 peak, and the current median home price is $141,000, well below the national median of $163,000. But the city has an extremely high unemployment rate of 15.7 percent and a median family income of $54,800.

12. Sante Fe, New Mexico

Annualized expected growth from 2011 - 2016: 7.6 percent

Santa Fe's home prices have tumbled 17.1 percent since their Q4 2007 peak. It has a low unemployment rate of 5.8 percent and a median household income of $59,400.

11. Panama City-Lynn Haven-Panama City Beach, Florida

Annualized expected growth from 2011 - 2016: 7.6 percent

Panama City has a median home price of $138,000, and its home prices are down 42.0 percent from their Q1 2006 peak. The metro has an unemployment rate of 8.3 percent in line with the national average, and a median household income of $56,200.

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