Amazon HQ2: Raleigh Ranked First For Housing, Quality Of Life

RALEIGH, NC — Raleigh has the best overall real estate among 20 finalists for Amazon's second headquarters. ATTOM Data Solutions, which analyzes numbers about the housing market, ranked Raleigh's real estate No. 1among the finalists, beating out Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Nashville for the top spot.

Raleigh had the eighth cheapest housing prices and the fifth lowest five-year home price appreciation percentage, the study found. The city also ranked seventh best when it comes to affordability, calculated using price to income ratio.

The ATTOM study said the Amazon project could be a "game changer"for Raleigh's economy and housing market. It could bring as many as 50,000 jobs to the area, as well as a higher demand for more housing.

Here's a full breakdown of Raleigh's scores:

• Overall real estate rank: 1
• Q4 2017 median home price: $235,000
  • Rank: 7th lowest
• 5-Year home price appreciation: 26 percent
  • Rank: 5th lowest
• Price to income ratio: 3.69
  • Rank: 7th lowest
• Average school score: 1.13
  • Rank: 3rd highest
• Crime rate to national average: 96
  • Rank: 5th lowest
• Effective property tax rate: .86 percent
  • Rank: 5th lowest
• Environmental hazard risk index: 2.58
• Rank: 2nd lowest

Amazon considered more than 200 proposals from various countries before announcing the Triangle as a finalist in February. Charlotte, the Triad and Hickory tried to woo Amazon but failed to make the cut.

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The News and Observer reported that the Triangle routinely earns top marks from analysts, but noted the region doesn't have a great mass transit system. Fred Smith, an economics professor at Davidson College, told the newspaper that is no small detail when it comes to Amazon's ultimate selection. He expects poor transit systems will disqualify some cities, including Indianapolis and perhaps Raleigh.

"It will also force cities that have a lot to offer (Pittsburgh) to take care of their glaring weaknesses," he told the newspaper. "Pittsburgh’s ‘airport issues’ – it lost its hub status due to USAir’s mergers – is a big challenge, but I suspect Pittsburgh could fix that. Raleigh, on the other hand, can’t possibly fix its transportation problems in a short enough time frame.”

Click here to see how other cities ranked on the chart.

Photo credit: David Ryder/Getty Images