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March 20, 2008

Trulia Study Say Buying in a Good School District Pays Off - Duh

Trulia Exclusive Study Indicates That High Ranking Schools are Key to Ensuring a Home Maintains Value in Market Downturns

SAN FRANCISCO, March 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Trulia.com, the best place to start a real estate search, released a study today indicating that purchasing a home with excellent local schools helps buffer the home from industry downturns. Trulia has analyzed its proprietary real estate data and newly incorporated information on over 125,000 schools and 14,000 districts and found that despite the economic downturn in the real estate market, homes with highly rated local schools across the nation generally maintain or increase their value.

In addition, Trulia has leveraged that data and has solicited on-the-ground feedback from experts on Trulia Voices, Trulia's Real Estate Q&A community, to uncover several cities in major metropolitan areas throughout the U.S. where relative bargains can still be found in cities where the schools receive an education rating of 9 or higher on a 10 point scale, based on standardized test scores as reported by the Department of Education for each state.

"In this uncertain economy, people are really searching for ways to ensure the big purchases they make are going to be sound," said Pete Flint, co-founder and CEO of Trulia. "Despite the tough housing market, there are still areas throughout the country where potential buyers can purchase a home with confidence that not only will their home maintain or grow its value, but their family will also receive a top-notch public education."

Trulia identified nine markets that are a representative cross section of the U.S. that combine high quality public elementary schools and a history of maintaining or increasing value despite a weak economic climate with relative affordability.

Included below is a list of the markets, along with median list prices for the major city within each market, as well as three "educational value" areas that are within 50 miles of the core city. The first alternate city in each list is the Trulia Pick -- the city with the best combination of value and local elementary education in a given market. Median list prices are for March 2008, and year-over-year change is from March 2007 to March 2008.

Posted by Jeff Brooks on March 20, 2008 10:28 AM | Permalink

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