The 10 US cities least at risk of a housing downturn in a coronavirus-led recession

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Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

• A recent analysis by Redfin found the 10 US metro areas least at risk of a housing downturn in the coronavirus-led recession.
• The study measured each metro area on factors including the number of people employed in the leisure and hospitality industry and the the number of coronavirus cases per 1 million people as of March 24.
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In the midst of the US' battle against the coronavirus pandemic, some housing markets are in better economic shape than others.

A recent analysis by Redfin looked at the 50 most-populated metro areas across the US and found the 10 least at risk of a housing downturn in a coronavirus-led recession.

In the report, Redfin emphasises that the US housing market had a strong start to 2020. In fact, in the last quarter of 2019, million-dollar sales were up 11% and housing prices overall were up, too. On an annual basis, 2019 saw the most first-time homebuyers since 1993, according to Genworth Mortgage Insurance. Then, in January, new home sales and pending home sales both shot up and inventory was at its lowest level since 2012.

Because the housing market was in good shape heading into the pandemic, Redfin projected the coronavirus fallout to be mild and much less severe than the fallout caused by the 2008 recession.

To find the 10 markets that will be least vulnerable, Redfin used 13 factors to find the overall risk score of each metro area.

The factors measured include the number of people employed in the leisure and hospitality industry, the number of people employed in the air transportation industry, the median debt-to-income ratio, and the number of coronavirus cases per 1 million people as of March 24.

Other, less weighted factors include the median home sale price-to-household income ratio, home price volatility, the average loan-to-value ratio of homes sold in 2019, the percentage of state GDP made up of imports from China, the percentage of households owned by people 65 or older, and the share of home sales that were flips.

Keep reading for a look at the 10 metro areas least at risk of a housing downturn, ranked from highest to lowest risk score.

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