Raleigh, North Carolina (PRWEB) July 19, 2013
Raleigh is one of the best places to live in North Carolina. There are plenty of neighboring cities around Raleigh that have lower crime rates, greater scenery, better public school systems, and city cultures that are very similar to Raleigh (and a few that do not). Andy May, mortgage expert, prepares this analyses with a strong bent on data.
Before picking the neighborhood, home buyers should look into the city they want to live first. CNN Money awarded Chapel Hill and Raleigh as two of the top 100 cities to live in 2012 (Chapel Hill ranked 10, Raleigh ranked 55). Both of these cities are part of The Triangle, ie: the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area. The Triangle is home to numerous high-tech companies and three tier-one colleges (Duke University, UNC Chapel Hill, and NC State). Home prices have been steadily increasing since the housing bubble burst. The Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area is the best place to live in North Carolina – which recently itself fell to number 12 from number 6 as a top state to live.
Home buyers should be aware of certain areas in The Triangle. Durham and Southeast Raleigh have lower income averages and correlated issues. Traffic is roughly the same for most areas around Raleigh. Road widening work has occurred on Falls of Neuse – opening a long needed artery from Falls Point to Wakefield (with lots of bike trails).
Most areas in North Carolina are growing (population growth of about 4.5% per year and home price growth year over year of 4.4%). However, Cary and North Raleigh have higher appreciation rates for real estate then outlying areas where land is abundant and builders are ever-ready to throw up another 1000 homes here or there.
The best way to test out a city is to visit the city. Go to the grocery stores, restaurants, malls, movie theatres, and shops. These are the people in the community that will be shopping and living in the neighborhood.
Andy May and Brett Bushnell, Realtor for Prime One Realty, 919-608-2141, recommend the following neighborhoods (call for a more complete list). Neighborhoods were calculated using the ADRMortgage.com formula which compiled family count, median home value, distance to Raleigh or Chapel Hill, crime rates, and home appreciation rates.
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