MEMPHIS HOUSING AFFORDABILITY: IT COULD BE WORSE - IT COULD BE NASHVILLE
SmartAsset, a financial technology company, created an affordability index to find the most affordable housing markets in the country. Memphis comes in at No. 15, not a bad place to be, but bested by No. 1 Fort Wayne, Indiana; a couple in Alabama (Montgomery at No. 4 and Birmingham at No. 9). Nashville is No. 53 (anyone surprised?).
To find the most affordable places to buy a home, SmartAsset took a holistic approach, considering closing costs, real estate taxes, homeowners insurance and mortgage rates in its analysis.
It found the total cost over five years of these four expenses: closing costs, taxes, insurance, and mortgage payments. It applied that to the average home in every city in the U.S. with a population greater than 200,000. It then took that five-year cost as a proportion of median household income in each city to determine affordability. The most affordable cities were those in which total housing costs on an average house accounted for the smallest proportion of the median income.
The Memphis average closing cost is $2,580; annual property tax $1,727; annual homeowner’s insurance $766; average annual mortgage payment $4,341; median income $36,975. Memphis ranked number 7 overall for lowest mortgage payments, helping achieve its overall rank. The city’s affordability index is 34.50, compared to Fort Wayne’s 44.50 and Nashville’s 28.65.
WHAT’S GOING ON
- The number of seniors (ages 65 and up) staying in the workforce is trending up nationwide. Memphis comes in at No. 25 according to SmartAsset, which compared the senior labor force participation rate in 2012 with that of 2016. Memphis rose 1.9 percent in that period. Minneapolis (4.6 percent) was No. 1 and its neighbor St. Paul (2.9 percent) was No. 5. New Orleans came in at No. 6 (2.8 percent) and Nashville was No. 12 at 2.4 percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12 percent of Americans age 65 and over were still in the workforce in 1996, while in 2016 that number rose to over 19 percent. Memphis was at 19.8 percent in 2016.
- Fogelman Properties has announced a couple of acquisitions. In a joint venture with Thackeray Partners, Fogelman completed $67 million in acquisitions this August with the purchase of Legends at Charleston Park, South Carolina and Westridge, in Jacksonville, Florida.
- The Kosten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Support gave a $300,000 grant to the University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s Pancreatic Cancer Research Team this week. The grant will support doctoral students, purchase new lab equipment, and support continued research efforts at UTHSC toward finding a cure for pancreatic cancer, the third most deadly form of cancer and the disease that claimed the Kosten Foundation’s namesake, Herb Kosten.
NEWS FROM OTHER SOURCES
- The Daily News reports that the group looking to redevelop the 100 North Main Building and build a new convention center hotel have been looking around town and talking to the City Council about some possibilities. Catch up on it here.
- Former Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and Williamson County businessman Bill Lee won the Democratic and Republican nominations for governor and they have some agreement but some differences when it comes to education. Chalkbeat takes a look at the two candidates and what their views are here.
- Trader Joe’s is going to happen in Germantown. The Commercial Appeal writes about it here.
THE HOT SHEET
Inside Memphis Business magazine has long been running the Hot Sheet feature of promotions and achievements in local business. We’re now running it in our weekly Tip Sheet email blast to keep the info more current.
- Johnna Main Bailey joined Siskind Susser as an attorney. Her expertise includes adjustment of status, asylum, cancellation of removal, immigration implications of criminal convictions, DACA, naturalization, and other areas.
- Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South received a $10,000 grant from State Farm
to support JA’s financial literacy and education curriculum.
- Jay Fowke, chief of the Division of Epidemiology and professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at UTHSC, was the recipient of a Department of Defense grant to research the link between racial disparities and prostate cancer. The grant, worth $843,694, will fund Fowke’s look into distinguishing aggressive from indolent disease in men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer.
- Ronald Kay joined LEO Events as senior vice president, finance. Kay recently worked as vice president, finance and treasurer at Fred’s, Inc.
- FordHarrison attorneys Louis P. Britt, III, Herbert E. Gerson, Charles (“Bud”) V. Holmes, and Thomas J. Walsh, Jr. were listed in the 2019 Best Lawyers in America.
POWER PLAYER
Inside Memphis Business magazine publishes a list of local Power Players every year. These are the movers and shakers in more than 30 categories who get things done in their respective fields. IMB’s April issue has the complete list. We also publish individual categories in other issues throughout the year, and we feature individual Power Players in our weekly Tip Sheet.This week’s Power Player: Nisha Powers
President, Powers Hill Design, LLC. B.S., Civil Engineering, UT-Knoxville. Founded firm in 2005. Appointed by Governor Bill Haslam to the Tennessee Aeronautics Commission; board member and past chairman. Board member, Women’s Foundation. Co-chair, Grants Committee, Visible Music College. Projects include Main Street to Main Street Multimodal Connector, Overton Square Garage Detention Basin, Zoo Parking Expansion. Recognitions include MBJ’s “Super Woman in Business,” “Top 40 Under 40” of the Ruby R. Wharton Outstanding Community Service Award. Passionate about encouraging young girls to consider engineering as a career. Most cherished title – “Proud Mom of 4-year-old Lucas.”
