Short List
Small Points Bulletin
Money magazine has ranked what it calls the 50 best small cities in the United States. Factors that affected the rankings include a strong job market, affordable homes and top schools. The top-ranked small cities in the study were:
| Top 10 Small Cities | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | City | Median family income | Median home price |
| 1 | McKinney, Texas | $96,143 | $217,879 |
| 2 | Maple Grove, Minnesota | $109,397 | $225,300 |
| 3 | Carmel, Indiana | $124,686 | $294,000 |
| 4 | Castle Rock, Colorado | $105,811 | $305,000 |
| 5 | Kirkland, Washington | $110,194 | $442,925 |
| 6 | Columbia & Elliott City, Maryland | $133,682 | $359,916 |
| 7 | Clarkstown, New York | $123,460 | $372,750 |
| 8 | Ames, Iowa | $77,444 | $145,750 |
| 9 | Rochester Hills, Michigan | $95,710 | $223,754 |
| 10 | Reston, Virginia | $142,404 | $395,550 |
SHORT LIST
Positive Territory
Recent analysis from CoreLogic shows that nearly 950,000 homes returned to positive equity in the second quarter of this year. Nationwide, borrower equity increased by approximately $1 trillion in the second quarter compared to a year earlier.
However, 10.7 percent of all residential properties with a mortgage (5.3 million homes) were still in negative equity in Q2 2014, but that total is down from 12.7 percent (6.3 million homes) in the first quarter and 14.9 percent (7.2 million homes) in Q2 2013, the report says.
The increase in borrower equity of $1 trillion from a year earlier is evidence that things are moving solidly in the right direction, says Sam Khater, deputy chief economist for CoreLogic. Borrower equity is important because home equity constitutes borrowers largest investment segment and, as a result, is driving forward the rise in wealth for the typical homeowner.
