Mountain Brook Among Healthiest Housing Markets In AL: Study

MOUNTAIN BROOK, AL — Mountain Brook has the healthiest housing market in Alabama, according to a recent study.

Financial analysis website SmartAsset recently released its seventh annual study on the Healthiest Housing Markets in Alabama, which weighed factors including stability, risk of loss, the ease of selling a home and home costs as a percentage of local median income.

The ten healthiest markets in Alabama include:

1. Mountain Brook
2. Alabaster
3. Moody
4. Trussville
5. Pelham
6. Vestavia Hills
7. Clay
8. Gardendale
9. Leeds
10. Hoover

SmartAsset measured stability with two equally weighted indicators: the number of years people remain in their homes and the percentage of homeowners with negative equity.

To measure risk, the study used the percentage of homes that decreased in value. To determine housing market fluidity, SmartAsset looked at data on the average time a "for-sale" home in each area spent on the market - the longer homes take to sell, the less fluid the market.

Finally, the study calculated affordability by determining the monthly cost of owning a home as a percentage of household income in each city.

Residents of Mountain Brook average 13.5 years living in their homes. Also, the city showed just 6.3 percent of homes with negative equity, 12 percent of homes decreasing in value and a 90.04 Healthy Market Index, which was the highest in the state.