Like what makes a business successful, there are three things to consider when buying a home: Location, location, location.
The Coldwell Banker Home Price Comparison Index was released yesterday, and Phoenix is ranked the most "affordable" housing market in Arizona.
If location is truly king in determining home prices, this ranking seems to be a polite way of saying that nobody (at least not enough people) want to live here right now.
The survey took the average price of a 2,200-square-foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home in cities across the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, and a sampling of countries/territories outside of North America where Coldwell Banker Real Estate has offices.
The most expensive housing market, according to the survey, is La Jolla, California, with an average price of $2,125,000.
Granted, a view of South Mountain isn't quite as majestic as a perched above the Pacific Ocean, but Phoenix's home prices aren't quite up to par at the moment for a number of socioeconomic reasons.
In Phoenix, a similar size home is about $199,000, roughly the same as Mount Pleasant, Michigan and Lafayette, Louisiana.
Phoenix home prices are also comparable to those in Mexico City, where the average is about $207,000.
As far as the rest of the Grand Canyon State, Flagstaff is the least affordable place to live with an average home price of about $385,000.
