Fort Hunt Named Healthiest House Market In Virginia: Study

FORT HUNT, VA — Fort Hunt claims the top spot as the healthiest housing market in Virginia, according to a SmartAsset study based on several housing factors.

SmartAsset, an online personal finance tool, based the ranking of housing markets in Virginia on four factors: stability, affordability, fluidity and risk of loss. Affordability contributed to 40 percent of the index score, while the other factors each contributed 20 percent. Data came from the U.S. Census Bureau 2019 5-Year American Community Survey and Zillow. Cities with unavailable data on any of the factors were excluded from the rankings.

According to SmartAsset, stability was determined by the number of years people stay in their homes and percentage of homeowners with negative equity. Affordability was calculated from the percentage of household income going toward the monthly cost of owning a home. Fluidity of the housing market was determined by the average days a house spends on the market. Risk of loss was based on the percentage of homes that decreased in value.

With all of these factors considered, Fort Hunt ranked first with an index score of 93.17. The area had one of the higher averages of years spent in a home — 15.1 — compared to an average of 13.2 across Virginia. The average homes with negative equity was 5.5 percent in Fort Hunt, while Virginia's percentage was 12.7 percent.

On the affordability factor, Fort Hunt may bear the high housing costs of Northern Virginia, but it also has a high median income. According to U.S. Census data, the census-designated place of Fort Hunt had a $188,875 median income from 2016 to 2020. SmartAsset found home costs represent 19 percent of income, compared to 23.6 percent for Virginia as a whole.

The fluidity and risk of loss numbers were similar for most of the places in the top 10. In Fort Hunt, 12.3 percent of homes decrease in value, and homes spend an average 57.4 days on the market.

In SmartAsset's healthiest market rankings, Northern Virginia dominated with eight of the top 10 spots:

1. Fort Hunt, VA
2. Mechanicsville, VA
3. Vienna, VA
4. Great Falls, VA
5. Williamsburg, VA
6. Mount Vernon, VA
7. Belle Haven, VA
8. Oakton, VA
9. Annandale, VA
10. Springfield, VA

See the full data for the 10 healthiest housing markets in Virginia.