NerdWallet, a consumer advocacy website, recently conducted a study to find the best places for home ownership in North Carolina – and Wake Forest ranked number four.
Seven of the top 20 towns were in Wake County: Holly Springs was number one, Fuquay-Varina was number three, Wake Forest was number four, Apex was number six, Morrisville was number eight, garner was number 11 and Cary was number 14. Three other towns in the top 20 were nearby. Clayton was number five, Hope Mills was number 15 and Sanford was number 18. The only large city on the list was Charlotte. The other smaller towns were all around Charlotte with the exception of one near Winston-Salem.
NerdWallet examined the 59 North Carolina cities with populations greater than 15,000 to determine which offer the best value for potential homeowners. NerdWallet’s analysis examined three primary questions: Are homes available? Can you afford to live there? Is the area growing?
According to NerdWallet’s findings, Wake Forest’s recent population growth, median household income and access to institutions of higher learning helped secure Wake Forest’s top five ranking.
“This town, which was the original location of Wake Forest University, is considered a growing bedroom community and saw an 11.6 percent population growth between 2010 and 2012. The homeownership rate is 74.8 percent and the median household income per month is $6,185. Homeowner costs take up only 28 percent of that income. Located just 18 miles from Raleigh, Wake Forest’s residents have access to Wake Technical Community College and Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which is one of the town’s largest employers.” That was the entire finding for Wake Forest.
To view the entire top 10 list, www.nerdwallet.com/blog/2014/best-cities-homeownership-northcarolina/.
This marks the third time in less than a year Wake Forest has cracked the top 10 in a NerdWallet study. In July NerdWallet ranked Wake Forest ninth among the best towns in North Carolina for young families and in October the town ranked third for job seekers.
For more information about NerdWallet, visit www.nerdwallet.com.
