Is West Virginia Real Estate a Good Investment?

We are asked all the time, especially by people who are moving to West Virginia from out-of-state, “is buying real estate here is a good investment?”

If you believe that a quality investment should provide steady growth in value, without a lot of downside risk, then purchasing real estate in West Virginia is a great investment.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau (1), the median home value in West Virginia increased by nearly 31 times (non-inflation adjusted dollars) between 1940 and 2000, and nearly doubled between 1980 and 2000. Between 1970 and 1980 alone, the median home value in West Virginia increased by 3.4 times!

While other areas of the country, including San Francisco, have experienced larger home value increases over time, they have also seen periods of significant downside risk. For example, the average person buying a home in San Francisco in 2007 saw his or her home decline in value by 27% because of the 2008 housing market “crash”. It took that homeowner six years—until 2014—to recover his or her original value (2).

Other “in demand” locations across the country experienced similar declines in home value, which meant that hundreds of thousands of homeowners were significantly “under water” because of the housing crash. In short, their homes were worth a lot less than what they owed on their loans.

Conversely, much of West Virginia saw a median home value increase between 2008 and 2009. The map below (3) shows areas of our state clearly in the “green,” indicating home value increases, while most of California and Florida are in the “purple,” meaning property value decreases. A few other areas of the country, including Las Vegas, were particularly hard hit by the 2008 housing crash.

While West Virginians have never seen large increases in home values over a short period of time, they have experienced slow, steady growth in property values over the past seven decades, with little downside risk.

As one can see, buying real estate in West Virginia is a wonderful investment!

Call Landmark Realty Services today, 304-842-5298, for help in finding the “right” home/investment for you and your family!

(1) http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/housing/census/historic/values.html)

(2) http://www.paragonre.com/3_Recessions_2_Bubbles_and_a_Baby)

(3) https://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/acsbr09-6.pdf