Philadelphia Has 7th Most Overvalued Housing Market in the Country

Even scarier: It's got the fastest home appreciation of any city in the top 10.

Noticed that home prices in Philly are sky-high? You’re not alone. In fact, Philly is the 7th most overvalued real estate market in the United States, according to a new study by MarketWatch and Corelogic.

Philly real estate prices now sit at 14.2 percent above sustainable levels (measured by home affordability based on the per capita income levels in the area). With the median home price in the Philadelphia metro region sitting at $219,600 (according to Bankrate.com), the MarketWatch study says home prices are up 16.7 percent since early 2014. That gives Philadelphia the dubious distinction of having the fastest home-price appreciation of any town on the top-10 list.“After years of struggling, the U.S. housing market has rebounded to the point where prices in many cities have soared beyond affordability,” the study says.

And it’s hardly just a Philadelphia phenomenon. “Of the top 100 real-estate markets in the U.S., 14 are now overvalued — more than double the number that were at the end of the first quarter in 2015,” says MarketWatch, which blames a lack of supply for the uptick.

Here are the top 5 most overvalued markets:

  1. Austin: 42.3 percent over sustainable levels
  2. Houston: 25.4 percent
  3. Charleston, S.C.: 23.4 percent
  4. Miami: 20.6 percent
  5. Washington, D.C.: 19 percent

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