Takeaways:
- Buyers in the Midwest or Great Plains areas of the country are destined to be happy homeowners.
- SmartAsset listed Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota as the best states for homeownership.
- Homeowners in New Jersey have it the roughest, as the state ranked dead last thanks to its sky-high property tax rates, sluggish growth rates and high foreclosure rate.
Buyers in the Midwest or Great Plains areas of the U.S. are destined to be happy homeowners, according to SmartAsset, which recently released a list of “The Best States for Homeowners.”
Examining metrics such as property tax rates, property taxes paid, insurance costs, ratio of median home price to median income, average closing costs, price per square foot, annual appreciation, average foreclosure rates and property crime in all 50 states, SmartAsset listed Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota as the best states for homeownership.
Wyoming got high marks for its vast open spaces and scenery, the third-lowest foreclosure rate in the country and the eighth-lowest property tax rate. North Dakota enjoys the second-highest property appreciation rate, as well as the second-lowest burglary rate, and South Dakota has the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation, SmartAsset said.
Rounding out SmartAsset’s top-10 list are:
- Minnesota, which has seen steady price growth in recent years.
- Colorado, which has the ninth-lowest property tax rates in the country.
- Iowa, which has relatively benign weather and, therefore, low homeowners insurance rates.
- West Virginia, which is the country’s third-most affordable state.
- Montana, which has both low foreclosure and burglary rates.
- Virginia, a coastal state that ranked high on most of SmartAsset’s assessments.
- Utah, which has the 10th-lowest property tax rate of any state.
Homeowners in New Jersey have it the roughest, as the state ranked dead last thanks to its sky-high property tax rates, sluggish growth rates and high foreclosure rate.
“That doesn’t mean there aren’t good areas to own a home in New Jersey, but by and large, the Garden State does little to make homeownership easy or affordable,” SmartAsset said.
