24/7 Wall StreetThe American housing bubble that wreaked havoc on the global economy was a long time in the making. Largely the product of exploitative lending practices that put people in homes they could not afford, the housing market bust dragged the median American home value down by 37% – from a pre-recession high of $230,000 in the third quarter of 2005 to a post-recession low of $145,000 in the first quarter of 2011.
While steady year-over-year growth in home value is generally considered healthy, too much growth too quickly can lead to market instability and a risk of a collapse in the long term. In some U.S. cities, home values might be climbing at a rate that could prove disastrously unsustainable.Robocall response:Reviewing quarterly median home price data for 123 metropolitan statistical areas from real estate data firm ATTOM Data Solutions, 24/7 Wall St. identified 15 U.S.
An unaffordable housing market is another hallmark of a housing bubble. Nationwide, the median home value is equivalent to 3.61 times the median household income. We only considered those housing markets where home values were less affordable as they are on average nationwide. Even though many cities on this list have healthy job markets and high incomes, rapidly rising real estate costs mean many residents still struggle to afford their homes.