Boston: No. 1 College Town for Real Estate Investors

Move.com ranked the top 10 college towns for real state investors, and Boston is No. 1.

The reason for the ranking?

“With a median list price of $335,000 in June 2011, the Boston/Cambridge market has one of the higher median list prices of the bunch, but also has high renter demand from students at over 50 colleges including Harvard and MIT.”

That’s great news for the city and the local real estate market. The Boston/Cambridge market is not just fueled by the students but by all the young professionals graduating from those colleges or relocating for work reasons.

“Average rental rates in Boston in June 2011 ranged from $3,122 for a two bedroom to $3,913 for a three or more bedroom unit, both higher than a mortgage payment of around $1,370 for a median-priced home with a 20% down payment and current mortgage rates for a 30-year fixed loan. Boston was also named one of the top 10 turnaround towns by CNN Money in May 2011.”

It certainly is quite the opportunity for those investing, but the other side is that it reflects the almost impossible task for many qualified buyers to get a loan for a purchase as a primary residence (despite historically low interest rates), but the inevitable fact is that this means rents will only keep going up.

The remaining cities on the ranking include Nashville, Chicago, Washington, Houston, South Bend, Atlanta, Baltimore, St Louis, and Syracuse.