GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - According to a study by LendingTree, the Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area is the best place in Michigan for homeownership.
To determine the cities in Michigan where homeowners are getting the most value out of their homes, LendingTree looked at data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau from 2013 to 2017 for metropolitan and micropolitan areas. The study included 35 areas around qualities that homeowners considered important, which included home appreciate rates, overall housing costs, average commute times and unemployment rates.
The Grand Rapids-Wyoming metro area has a median home value of $159,400, low unemployment (5.3%), increasing home values from 2013 to 2017 (11%) and decreasing housing costs from 2013-2017 (minus-4.22%).
According to LendingTree, residents in Grand Rapids had an average commute time of 21.8 minutes, beating Detroit residents by five minutes.
Grand Rapids' median home value was fourth overall, their unemployment rate was second overall and the homeowner score of 73.9 was the best on the list.
Other top cities in Michigan for homeownership included Ann Arbor, Marquette, Monroe and Lansing. At the bottom of the list were Alma, Saginaw, Big Rapids and Bay City.
Also cracking the top 10 was the Kalamazoo-Portage metro area. Between 2013 and 2017, residents in the area saw home values grow a median of just over 7% and housing costs drop nearly 2%. Kalamazoo had a slightly higher unemployment rate in 2017 (6.6%) but also a slightly shorter average commute time (21.2 minutes).
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