SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Places with a balanced mix of home prices cover just 13 percent of major U.S. cities, according to the latest report by Redfin (www.redfin.com), the next-generation real estate brokerage. The report ranks the 20 most economically integrated large U.S. cities, as well as the top five most economically integrated neighborhoods in each city.
“Communities with a mix of homes and prices help improve economic opportunity and inclusion for all residents,” said Redfin chief economist Nela Richardson. “When families of varying socioeconomic standing live in the same place, everyone enjoys the same safe streets and highly ranked schools. For homebuyers, it’s not impossible to find these places. But it’s really hard. That’s why Redfin is figuring out where they are and how different cities stack up. We hope to start an important conversation about how to build neighborhoods where everyone can thrive.”
Boston tops the list of economically integrated cities, with 51 percent of the city having a balanced home-price mix, followed by Seattle (31%). Baltimore and San Francisco are both near the bottom, at 10 percent and 11 percent. But the details matter; 88 percent of San Francisco is covered by homes that a middle-income San Francisco family can’t afford. Baltimore families, on the other hand, can afford to buy in 86 percent of Baltimore. The full city ranking is below.
City |
Balanced Mix Area |
High-end Area |
Affordable Area |
||||||
51% | 35% | 15% | |||||||
31% | 10% | 59% | |||||||
30% | 25% | 45% | |||||||
24% | 53% | 24% | |||||||
24% | 7% | 69% | |||||||
20% | 40% | 40% | |||||||
19% | 74% | 7% | |||||||
17% | 5% | 79% | |||||||
16% | 11% | 73% | |||||||
13% | 11% | 76% | |||||||
12% | 16% | 72% | |||||||
11% | 6% | 82% | |||||||
11% | 3% | 86% | |||||||
10% | 88% | 2% | |||||||
8% | 5% | 88% | |||||||
8% | 4% | 88% | |||||||
7% | 3% | 90% | |||||||
7% | 1% | 92% | |||||||
6% | 2% | 92% | |||||||
4% | 1% | 95% | |||||||
Methodology
To rank the cities and neighborhoods, Redfin tallied the affordability of millions of homes by comparing their sale price to the purchasing power of a local, median-income family. Addresses were labeled as either affordable or high-end and then packed into a high-resolution grid to see how much area in each city and neighborhood fit into three categories: mostly affordable, mostly high-end, or a mixture of affordable and high-end and what Redfin calls economically integrated.
To view the full report, please visit https://www.redfin.com/research/reports/2015/economically-integrated-neighborhoods.html.
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About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a next-generation real estate brokerage that represents people buying and selling homes. Founded by technologists, Redfin employs a team of experienced, full-service real estate agents who are advocates, not salespeople, earning customer-satisfaction bonuses, not just commissions. Redfin.com features all the broker-listed homes for sale, as well as for-sale-by-owner properties that don’t pay brokers a commission. Redfin also offers online tools, built by its own software engineers, that make the entire process of buying or selling a home easier and more fun. The company serves major markets across the U.S. and has closed nearly $20 billion in home sales. In 2012, Redfin was named one of The DIGITAL 100: World’s Most Valuable Private Tech Companies by Business Insider.
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