10 Cities With Climbing Costs of Living

10 Cities With Climbing Costs of Living

One major determining factor in deciding where to buy or rent a home is cost of living. A recently released study by GOBankingRates.com ranks the cities with costs of living that climbed the most in 2016-a sign of a housing market heating up.

Researchers based the ranking on the increase in the "cost of living index," which includes food, rent and transportation, and the increase in income needed to "live comfortably." The ranking includes cities where both the cost of living index increased and the income needed increased.

The top ten cities:

1. Nashville, Tennessee
 Cost of Living Index Increase: 8.61 points
 Income Needed Increase: $9,135

2. Seattle, Washington
 Cost of Living Index Increase: 7.32 points
 Income Needed Increase: $3,190

3. Louisville, Kentucky
 Cost of Living Index Increase: 4.49 points
 Income Needed Increase: $2,066

4. Austin, Texas
 Cost of Living Index Increase: 3.84 points
 Income Needed Increase: $1,407

5. Jacksonville, Florida
 Cost of Living Index Increase: 3.36 points
 Income Needed Increase: $2,095

6. Los Angeles, California

Cost of Living Index Increase: 2.89 points

Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $1,676

7. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Cost of Living Index Increase: 2.78 points

Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $2,590

8. Virginia Beach, Virginia

Cost of Living Index Increase: 2.65 points

Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $1,720

9. Indianapolis, Indiana

Cost of Living Index Increase: 2.58 points

Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $1,111

10. New Orleans, Louisiana

Cost of Living Index Increase: 2.15 points

Live Comfortably Amount Increase: $1,221

Source: GoBankingRates.com

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3 TIPS FROM THE RICH TO BUILD WEALTH

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​The overwhelming majority of affluent Americans accumulated their wealth not through inheritance, as is commonly believed, but through earned income and investments.

The financial editors at Money Magazine recently interviewed a sample of well-off individuals, coming up with three universal tips that may help average folks to build wealth:

1. Get There Slowly - While some attained wealth fairly quickly by starting the right business at the right time (or developing a killer app), most entrepreneurs say you can amass the better part of $1 million if you start to earn at a young age and remain persistent about saving for the long haul.

 A 25-year-old beginning at $40,000 a year, for instance, who gets 2 percent annual raises and contributes 12 percent of his/her salary each year to a 401(k), would end up with an account worth more than $1 million at age 65, assuming a 6 percent annual return and an employer match of 3 percent per year.

2. Stick with the Basics - Many wealthy people own non-traditional investments, including hedge funds, timberland, and art, but when they were asked by Money how they made their greatest investment gains, 89 percent said traditional stocks and bonds.

3. Don't Try to Out-Guess the Market - With pundits constantly predicting which stocks are heading up or down and which sectors will sizzle or fizzle, it's easy to get the impression that success lies in shrewdly shifting your money around. The majority of the rich don't buy that.

Just 14 percent asked by Money said they made the bulk of their investment gains by timing the market; the other 86 percent credited their success to good old buy-and-hold investing. They key, they said, is investing in a diversified mix of stocks and bonds, and riding the long-term upward sweep of the market.​​

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WHAT'S BEHIND THE GATES? HIGHER-PRICED HOMES

Homeowners behind gates can expect an average $30,000 more for their home come sale-a premium, however, that can be offset by costly community amenities, according to research from the American Real Estate Society (ARES). The premium is due to actual and perceived benefits, such as privacy and safety, on the part of the buyer.

"This [research] provides clear evidence that homes in gated communities sell at a premium relative to comparable homes in non-gated communities," said ARES Publication Director Ken Johnson in a release. Johnson is a real estate economist at Florida Atlantic Universitys College of Business.

The premium may be less in gated communities where amenities like a clubhouse, pool or tennis court drive up maintenance costs for residents, ARES researchers found. Examining a sample of gated communities, researchers discovered a $19,500 decrease in sale price in communities with these types of amenities.

"Additional maintenance costs associated with these amenities often outweigh their benefits, and it appears that while a gate has value, additional neighborhood amenities do not always provide additional value," explained Mark A. Sunderman, one of the ARES researchers.

"From the perspective of both the buyer and the seller, this information should help each to better price property," Sunderman continued. "A good understanding of what adds value and what does not should help create increased marketability of gated homes."

"The long-held belief that gates add value is supported by the data, as long as the impact of the amenities is properly factored in," Johnson added. "This should set buyers minds to rest as to whether or not they are actually receiving a boost in value when they purchase inside a gated community."

Source: Florida Atlantic University (FAU)

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LIVING COMFORTABLY IN THESE CITIES WILL COST YOU

Hankering to wing off to Worcester, or relocate to Rochester? Wherever you're considering moving, it's important to know whether your income can sustain a "comfortable" life there.

Finder.com recently crunched the numbers to determine just that in close to 80 cities around the country.

Among the key findings of Finder.com's analysis-and shocking no one-is San Francisco, Calif. at No. 1, requiring the highest salary of all the cities analyzed, and Los Angeles, San Diego and San Jose in the top 10. In these cities, the salary required to obtain a mortgage for the average home is higher than the salary required for mortgage payments, average debt and average expenditures.

The salary needed to live comfortably in San Francisco, according to the analysis, is $180,600-the average home in the Golden Gate City costs $1,119,500. In Los Angeles, the salary needed to live comfortably is $90,244; in San Jose, $129,864.

The city with the lowest salary requirement is Jackson, Miss., where residents can live comfortably for $43,265.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports the average salary was $52,250 in 2013. In the Finder.com analysis, this figure is sufficient income to live in 36 of the 78 cities analyzed.

For its analysis, Finder.com defined living "comfortably" as:

 - Having the ability to purchase an average home (with a 20 percent down payment);
 - Having the ability to cover average per-person expenditures; and
 - Having the ability to pay off annual non-mortgage related household debt.

Using those controls, Finder.com analyzed factors such as the state's median home price, average interest rate for a 30-year, 20-percent-down mortgage, and average non-housing expenditure.

To learn income requirements for a comfortable life in your desired city, visit Finder.com.

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