Minnesota's Best Values: A Great Hometown with an Affordable Mortgage

By Richard Barrington
Local Lender Columnist
Jul 30, 2007
Two Minnesota communities made a recent BusinessWeek list of the 25 best real estate values in the mid-west. If you are looking for quality of life with a mortgage that won't kill you, then Lakeville and Rochester might be worth a closer look.

Lakeville

Lakeville is located within 20 miles of Minneapolis, resulting in an average commute time of a manageable 27 minutes. Despite being so close to a large city, Lakeville's violent crime index is less than a quarter of the average for Minnesota. Also on the plus side, secondary school test scores are above the state average.

While the median home price of $402,300 isn't cheap, it sounds quite reasonable compared to areas that haven't come down to earth from the housing bubble. You can at least envision a mortgage that won't have to stretch over multiple generations.

Rochester

Like Lakeville, Rochester's value is reflected in moderate home prices and quality of life. The violent crime index is below the Minnesota average, and while it is considerably further from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area than Lakeville, it does compensate for this with lower home prices. The median home price in Rochester is $373,000.

Mortgage Rates Remain Relatively Low

Quality and price are two components that determine home-buyer value; the third is the mortgage. Mortgage rates have ticked up in recent weeks, but 6.42% for a thirty-year mortgage is well below the typical rates of the past 30 years.

In many parts of the country, the housing bubble required some outrageous expenditures on the part of home buyers. Now, at least in some select regions such as the above examples, conditions are more reasonable. However, home prices and mortgage rates are notoriously volatile, so people who are in the market should act decisively.

Source
BusinessWeek
Freddie Mac

About the Author
Richard Barrington is a freelance writer and novelist who previously spent over twenty years as an investment industry executive.