Fort Worth among Most Affordable College Towns

“Houses for TCU Students a Real Bargain”

Everyone here knows Fort Worth is a great place to live, and now Coldwell Banker agrees. The real estate giant lists TCU’s home city as the third most affordable college town in the country. This is encouraging news to TCU students and parents looking to buy a home in the TCU area.

Fort Worth’s average home price is $148,625. The University of Akron in Ohio tops the list at $135,780. Ball State University in Muncie, IN is second at $144,250. Houston, home of Rice University and the University of Houston, came in at No. 6.

TCU student housing is an especially good bargain in comparison with its fellow members in the Mountain West Conference. The average home price for towns in the MWC is $304,609.

Here is part of Coldwell Banker’s press release:

Results from Fourth Annual College Home Price Comparison Index

PARSIPPANY, N.J. (Nov. 18, 2008) –Coldwell Banker® has released its rankings outlining the most expensive and affordable college towns across America in its fourth annual College Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI).

Stanford University and the University of Akron are each frontrunners on different spectrums of the home price ranking, holding titles of the most expensive and most affordable college towns, respectively. An average home in Palo Alto, Calif., costs approximately $1.74 million while the same home in Akron, Ohio averages at $135,780 – a $1.6 million price difference.

The Coldwell Banker College HPCI specifically examines the home market to the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) schools.

“I’ve always enjoyed seeing how colleges stack up over the years in football and academic rankings – and with this study, even in home affordability," said Jim Gillespie, president and chief executive officer of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. “Our College HPCI survey is particularly helpful for a few growing groups of home buyers, such as baby boomers returning to live near their alma maters and families buying second homes in their favorite college towns.”

Gillespie, a 1968 graduate of the University of Illinois and avid Illini fan, also notes that the survey can be a guide for parents interested in buying homes for their college-aged sons and daughters – another emerging trend. “Purchasing real estate in college towns can be a very smart investment, especially when the family’s college student can live in the home,” he said. “Instead of pouring money into rent, the student can gain a sense of responsibility, and roommates can help cover the costs with rent payments, all while the home is appreciating in value over time. Real estate professionals have been doing this for years.”

The Coldwell Banker College HPCI data validates why more people may be deciding to purchase real estate in college towns where they will often find affordable homes. In fact, 65% of the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (I-A) schools are in towns where the nicely sized subject home averages $300,000 or lower.

Additional information about the original HPCI study, which ranked 315 markets across the United States and Puerto Rico in affordability for the same 2,200 square-foot subject home, is available at www.coldwellbanker.com.

2008 Coldwell Banker College HPCI – Highlights & Interesting Facts

• Three of the top 25 teams in the BCS standings also rank as the top 10 most affordable markets in the Coldwell Banker College HPCI – Ball State University, Texas Christian University and Oklahoma State University.
• Two of the top 25 football teams make the College HPCI top 10 most expensive list – the University of Miami and the University of Southern California.
• For the fourth year in a row, the Mid-American Conference ranks as the most affordable league, with an average home price of $207,952.