Forbes: Texas dominates ‘Best Buy Cities’ for 2015

TEXAS – Forbes has released Best Buy Cities: Where to Invest in Housing in 2015, a report dominated by Texas housing markets.

Forbes worked with Local Market Monitor, a data company that looks at home prices and economic factors in 300 housing markets across the nation, and determined that these cities are safe bets to invest — whether for rentals or first-time buyers — because of strong job and population growth, diversified economies, and relatively low housing prices.

Four of the cities have reached the point where prices are a slight bit overheated — Austin was the only Texas city — but given their fundamentals, they’re still a safe bet.

Houston’s housing market is still underpriced by 7 percent, with an average home price of $214,049, and the area’s job growth is exploding at 4.1 percent annually.

Dallas is underpriced by 9 percent, with an average home price of $197,159, and a slightly lower job growth of 3.8 percent.

Here are the Texas cities included in the Top ten spots on Forbes’ list:

1. Austin
3. Houston
5. Dallas
6. San Antonio
10. Fort Worth

Texas had the most cities on the list. For Texas cities, home prices have been growing between 7 and 12 percent, which indicates that even though flipping houses might be harder as the market continues to strengthen, the investment for long-term ownership is good in Texas.