Fort Wayne Ranks 3rd in Housing Affordability
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 2/1/10 @ 5:26 pm - Filed Under Local Politics
Fort Wayne ranks as the 3rd most affordable city in the 6th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey (pd). The survey ranks markets by their “median multiple” which is the median home price divided by the median gross household income.
Of course such a ranking is not necessarily a good sign. One only needs to look at the top 10 to see that (from p10):
Top 10 Affordable Housing Markets
| Rank | City | State | Median Multiple |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit | MI | 1.6 |
| 1 | South Bend | IN | 1.6 |
| 3 | Fort Wayne | IN | 1.7 |
| 3 | Lansing | MI | 1.7 |
| 3 | Youngstown | OH | 1.7 |
| 6 | Flint | MI | 1.8 |
| 7 | Cape Coral | FL | 1.9 |
| 7 | Columbus | GA-AL | 1.9 |
| 7 | Grand Rapids | MI | 1.9 |
| 10 | Canton | OH | 2.0 |
| 10 | Erie | PA | 2.0 |
| 10 | Evansville | IN-KY | 2.0 |
| 10 | Fort Smith | AR-OK | 2.0 |
| 10 | Kingsport | TN-VA | 2.0 |
| 10 | Rockford | IL | 2.0 |
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15 Responses to “Fort Wayne Ranks 3rd in Housing Affordability”
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Remember, Amish labor keeps prices down in our area.Times are tough but in the good times it was cheap to buy a house here compared to the rest of the country.
John,
I’ve had work done by the Amish. Price wise, about the same as local contractors. Quality, time to complete the job and just nice to have around, far superior.
Ever tried to buy cabinets from them? You’ll pay 50% or more than other cabinet makers, but it’s worth it.
Oh, well I missed that Detroit, Lansing and Flint on at the top. Ghettos. They must not have considered the quality of life.
Proud to live in two of the three most affordable communities in the US. Detroit and Fort Wayne each one compelling in their own way, each one a great example of the impacts of the Great Recession which in my mind in the midwest stretches back to the mid 1980’s.
With regard to Mark A actually two Indiana cities in the top three. Three Michigan cities in the top six. So if you must brag go right ahead but it rings a bit hollow.
Also, I think you mean to use the term slum rather than ghetto. Slum is a blighted place while ghetto is a concentration of one particular kind of people. Fort Wayne are nearly equally ghettos - one white the other black while Lansing and Flint are more diverse. Detroit and Flint lead in the slum rankings no doubt but watch out the action on the ground in Detroit and Flint around urban ag might just clean up those messes faster than the more “affluent” places.
Dan - Obviously you planned it that way - right? Once a penny-pincher - always one - that must be your motto also!
If by “affordable” the listmaker means HUD/Section 8 “freebies”, then it’s no wonder Ft. Wayne is so close to the rest of the “cities” (and I use that word loosely here) on this list.
I think this area is more like a GHETTO-SLUM (to use Mr. Carmody’s decriptives), if anything.
Want proof?
Drive through the SOUTH side…if you dare…and at night.
Count the bedsheeted windows, the boomcars, the gunshots, the trash-strewn streets, the boarded up houses, and the (very) few house like OURS (and Phil Marx’s) that still look so wonderfully out-of-place becasue we still care.
You be convinced soon enough.
Aside from THAT…this city isn’t a bad place to live…it just WANTS to be.
;)
Mayor Henry and his inept administration (well those that haven’t resigned as girlfriend abusers or deputy short-timers) will not be happy until Fort Wayne is bankrupt and the enire area is a ghetto.
Jeff,
1. If you look at the full list, you notice that these are all Midwestern and Southern cities. It isn’t that our housing costs are too low, it’s that the housing costs along the coasts are too high. Many cities have placed so many high restrictions on housing that teachers and fire fighters can’t afford to live in the communities that they serve.
2. Nobody likes the recession, but if you are going to have one, then shouldn’t essentials like food, clothing, and shelter be priced lower for the duration?
Robert Enders
I do not understand what it is you are trying to say. Please elaborate.
Dan,
I like Fort Wayne’s housing prices just fine. I bought a house here 3 years ago for $30K.
What part of my post did you not understand? I don’t think that people should be worried about low housing prices. There are plenty of other things to be worried about.
I have been thinking about moving to fort wayne, but am having mix feelings by reading everyones post. Is fort wayne a good place to live?? And if so what side of town sould i look and to? I Am looking for a quite place with great schools and people. Thank
Jade,
We wouldn’t live here if it were a bad place to live. What type of job were you looking for down here?
I am content to live on the southeast side. There are a lot of good bargains for home buyers here. The schools are alright, I suppose. I went to South Side and I turned out ok.
Thanks Robert, I just got my CIS Degree so am looking for anything that will let me get a foot and the door.
Jade,
There’s plenty of good to be found in Fort Wayne. There are several good neighborhoods to live in, many interesting cultural attractions, plenty of fun places to spend your time and money, and a lot of elected officials who really do care and want to make the place even better. The biggest problem though seems to be that may of our elected officials, when met with opposition to their ideas, recoil into defensive positions rather than genuinely engaging the community. I believe that it is this single phenomenon alone that explains most of the negativity that you will see here.
When people talk about the problems with our schools, the criminal activity here, or say anything else that portrays Fort Wayne as something less than completely perfect, the standard M.O. for most elected (and appointed) officials seems to be to simply deny the problem even exists. The local media is little help as they usually seem to either lack the energy to investigate or the gumption to challenge authority. So, what has developed here in Fort Wayne is a very active blogosphere to counter this problem.
But one thing you should realize is that both side probably overstate their position much of the time. The truth probably lies somewhere in between. Luckily, we have one local blog that often plays cheerleader for the other side. Even though I often disagree with them, I would certainly recommend you read their posts to get a more balanced view of the community.
You can find that blog at
http://www.journalgazette.net/
Thank you so much Phil, that was very helpful and thank you for the blog site.