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By Beth McGuire

America’s premier cities seem to have it all: Instagram-able park and city views, edgy bars, oodles of culture, a vibrant and weird street life, shops that sell cookie dough by the scoop. All that awesomeness comes at a steep price. The harsh reality: Buying or renting in urban meccas like New York, San Francisco or Denver is increasingly out of reach for many folks.

That’s why so many city-centric millennials, empty nesters, and everyone in between are finding themselves in a gut-wrenching double bind: Should they continue to fork over ludicrously high portions of their paycheck for housing, or throw in the towel and decamp to the suburbs?

Why not search out affordable alternatives for urban living—far cheaper cities with many of the same features that made you fall head over heels in the first place? Enter the realtor.com® data team.

We distilled the true character of some of the nation’s most expensive metros to find budget-friendly—and unexpected—counterparts around the country. Think of them as Metro Matchups™—places that link up to the nation’s urban meccas in critical ways, but where you can buy a home for less than $350,000. Less than $350k!

If you’re leaving one of the U.S.’ biggest cities, you’re probably not going to move off the grid to somewhere without a reliable Wi-Fi signal (unless that’s your thing). So we limited our ranking to the 150 largest metros. All have median home prices below $350,000, plenty of gigs, and some ethnic diversity. We factored in housing stock, occupations, weather, nightlife, and a whole host of other criteria that help define an urban center’s unique personality:*

• Percentage of stand-alone, single-family homes, condos, townhouses, and co-ops listed on realtor.com
• Average days of sunshine per year
• Dominant employment sectors (finance, government, tourism)
• Dominant occupations
• Restaurants per capita
• Bars and nightlife venues per capita
• Art galleries per capita
• Number of pro and amateur sports teams
• Car ownership rates

Some of our Metro Matchups pair up as you might expect. Others might make your jaw drop. But hey, we’ve got the data to back it all up! So let’s get going.

San Francisco, Calif.
Median home list price: $868,000
Matchup: Raleigh, N.C.
Median home list price: $339,200
Matching metrics: Tech jobs, tech jobs, and did we mention tech jobs?

Let’s be real: There is only one City by the Bay! But if even thinking about your monthly rent or mortgage bill makes you reach for the anti-anxiety meds, you might want to consider Raleigh.

Hear us out. The metro has the fifth-highest concentration of high-tech jobs in the nation. And the cost of living is just a fraction of that in San Francisco—or any of the other elite urban tech hubs like Boston or Seattle.

Runner-up: New Orleans, La., with its food and nightlife

Los Angeles, Calif.
Median home list price: $699,600
Matchup: Savannah, Ga.
Median home list price: $249,900
Matching metrics: Movie production and beaches

Next time you’re eating butter-doused popcorn at the movies, just remember that film could very well have been made in Savannah. Yep, you heard us right: This is the Hollywood of the South. Savannah ranks No. 3 nationally …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Beth McGuire

America’s premier cities seem to have it all: Instagram-able park and city views, edgy bars, oodles of culture, a vibrant and weird street life, shops that sell cookie dough by the scoop. All that awesomeness comes at a steep price. The harsh reality: Buying or renting in urban meccas like New York, San Francisco or Denver is increasingly out of reach for many folks.

That’s why so many city-centric millennials, empty nesters, and everyone in between are finding themselves in a gut-wrenching double bind: Should they continue to fork over ludicrously high portions of their paycheck for housing, or throw in the towel and decamp to the suburbs?

Why not search out affordable alternatives for urban living—far cheaper cities with many of the same features that made you fall head over heels in the first place? Enter the realtor.com® data team.

We distilled the true character of some of the nation’s most expensive metros to find budget-friendly—and unexpected—counterparts around the country. Think of them as Metro Matchups™—places that link up to the nation’s urban meccas in critical ways, but where you can buy a home for less than $350,000. Less than $350k!

If you’re leaving one of the U.S.’ biggest cities, you’re probably not going to move off the grid to somewhere without a reliable Wi-Fi signal (unless that’s your thing). So we limited our ranking to the 150 largest metros. All have median home prices below $350,000, plenty of gigs, and some ethnic diversity. We factored in housing stock, occupations, weather, nightlife, and a whole host of other criteria that help define an urban center’s unique personality:*

• Percentage of stand-alone, single-family homes, condos, townhouses, and co-ops listed on realtor.com
• Average days of sunshine per year
• Dominant employment sectors (finance, government, tourism)
• Dominant occupations
• Restaurants per capita
• Bars and nightlife venues per capita
• Art galleries per capita
• Number of pro and amateur sports teams
• Car ownership rates

Some of our Metro Matchups pair up as you might expect. Others might make your jaw drop. But hey, we’ve got the data to back it all up! So let’s get going.

San Francisco, Calif.
Median home list price: $868,000
Matchup: Raleigh, N.C.
Median home list price: $339,200
Matching metrics: Tech jobs, tech jobs, and did we mention tech jobs?

Let’s be real: There is only one City by the Bay! But if even thinking about your monthly rent or mortgage bill makes you reach for the anti-anxiety meds, you might want to consider Raleigh.

Hear us out. The metro has the fifth-highest concentration of high-tech jobs in the nation. And the cost of living is just a fraction of that in San Francisco—or any of the other elite urban tech hubs like Boston or Seattle.

Runner-up: New Orleans, La., with its food and nightlife

Los Angeles, Calif.
Median home list price: $699,600
Matchup: Savannah, Ga.
Median home list price: $249,900
Matching metrics: Movie production and beaches

Next time you’re eating butter-doused popcorn at the movies, just remember that film could very well have been made in Savannah. Yep, you heard us right: This is the Hollywood of the South. Savannah ranks No. 3 nationally …read more

From:: Finance and Economy

By Beth McGuire

California is long overdue for legislation that will solve the state’s crumbling affordable housing infrastructure. Repairing the crisis will be a long and arduous process, but progress has been revealed in the form of a housing package made up of 15 bills.

Gov. Jerry Brown signed them into law on Sept. 29 outside an affordable housing complex in San Francisco, one of the cities that will heavily depend on funding from this legislation. These bills tackle the housing crisis in a variety of ways, such as providing funding for subsidized affordable housing, making it harder for cities to block new projects and streamlining the approval process to help meet state housing goals, which have fallen behind.

Here’s an overview of the bills:

• SB 2: Building Homes and Jobs Act – Permanent funding for affordable housing via an added fee of $75 on real estate transaction paperwork
• SB 3: $4 billion in bonds for affordable housing programs (on ballot for voter approval in November)
• SB 35: Streamlines approval process for developments that have failed to meet regional housing needs
• SB 166: Ongoing supply of housing construction sites for various income brackets
• SB 167: Stricter proof guidelines for denial of low- to moderate-income housing development projects
• SB 540: Simplifies environmental review process for specific affordable housing projects
• AB 72: Enforces laws that require local governments to reach housing goals
• AB 73: Incentivizes local governments to create housing on sites near public transportation
• AB 571: Eases qualifications for Farmworker Housing Tax Credit
• AB 678: Identical to SB 167
• AB 879: Allows study to reduce local fees for new residential developments
• AB 1397: Removes restrictions on number of sites where multifamily housing can be built
• AB 1505: Forces adoption of inclusionary ordinance for residential rental units
• AB 1515: Protects projects with the Housing Accountability Act
• AB 1521: First right of refusal to purchase affordable housing goes to experienced housing organizations

“These new laws will help cut red tape and encourage more affordable housing, including shelter for the growing number of homeless in California,” says Brown.

Although further funding and additional construction will be necessary to solve the crisis, these bills have been widely received as a step in the right direction.

“REALTORS® throughout the state applaud the California Legislature for taking action to address the state’s historic housing supply crisis,” says Geoff McIntosh, president of the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.). “These are complex issues that required significant negotiation and ultimately, compromise on all sides.”

There are, however, concerns that these bills may not be looking at the big picture.

Penny Nathan, president and CEO of Ascent Real Estate, Inc., believes these initiatives will fall short of their estimated contributions.

“SB2 looks to add 1.2 billion, though 50 percent is earmarked to go to creating solutions for the homeless population,” says Nathan. “The remaining 50 percent is to support local government planning documents, etc. The fundamental solutions will not be sufficient.”

Nathan also believes that the signed bills, specifically AB 73, may pose an unforeseen health risk.

“Homeless statistics are staggering [in San Diego, Calif.],” says Nathan. “Currently, the homeless population is suffering a hepatitis outbreak. This …read more

From:: Real Estate News

By Beth McGuire

Flood damage as a result of rising sea levels over the next 100 years, are expected to impact over $900 billion worth of homes in the U.S. This, according to a recent report by Zillow that analyzes the types of homes that could be underwater by 2100, based on recent climate change estimates.

According to the report, less affluent homeowners stand to lose significantly more if their homes are damaged from flooding when compared to their wealthier neighbors. Zillow predicts that 1.9 million homes will be underwater by 2100 if the oceans rise six feet, and more than a quarter of these homes are in Miami.

While those with more valuable homes will lose out in dollar amount, a third of the homes in the bottom tier of their metros (32 percent) can potentially suffer a $123 billion loss. This could be life altering for the low-income population whose funds mostly go towards mortgage payments and other bills, making preventative measures against flooding an unaffordable expense. In the next 100 years, we can expect rising sea levels to impact $916 billion worth of homes, most of which are low- to medium-value properties.

Top-value homes are at risk in rural and suburban areas, while bottom-value homes are more likely to be impacted in urban areas. Here are the 10 metros that will be hit the hardest:

1. Miami, Fla.
2. New York, N.Y.
3. Tampa, Fla.
4. Fort Myers, Fla.
5. Boston, Mass.
6. Upper Township, N.J.
7. Salisbury, Md.
8. Virginia Beach, Va.
9. Bradenton, Fla.
10. Naples, Fla.

“We’ve seen the enormous impact flooding can have on a city and its residents,” says Dr. Svenja Gudell, chief economist at Zillow. “It’s harder for us to think about it on a long-term timeline, but the real risks that come with rising sea levels should not be ignored until it’s too late to address them. With organized and committed planning, cities can help protect both current and future residents. Living near the water is incredibly appealing for people around the country, but it also comes with additional considerations for buyers and homeowners. Homes in low-lying areas are also more susceptible to storm flooding and these risks could be realized on a much shorter timeline as we have seen time and time again.”

View more from the report.

For more information, please visit www.zillow.com.

Liz Dominguez is RISMedia’s associate content editor. Email her your real estate news ideas at ldominguez@rismedia.com.

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The post Zillow: 1.9 Million Homes Underwater by Year 2100 appeared first on RISMedia.

…read more

From:: Finance and Economy