Muncie Ranks 2nd Nationally in College Town Affordability

If you want to live in a college town without breaking the bank, you might give Charlie Cardinal a call. Coldwell Banker released its Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index and Muncie ranked second for the second consecutive year:

For the second year in a row, Muncie, Indiana (home of Ball State University) ranked 2nd in the nation in Coldwell Banker’s “Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index.” Every fall, college football fans feel nostalgic for the tradition, lifestyle and spirit of their college towns as they cheer on their favorite teams. This year’s Coldwell Banker College Home Price Affordability Index comparison reveals that these school-centric areas also sport very affordable homes, in addition to the culture and economic stability associated with institutions of higher education – making them great areas in which to purchase real estate.

The 2009 Annual College Town Home Price Affordability Index released by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC provides an apples-to-apples comparison of similarly sized 2,200 SF, four-bedroom, two-and-one-a-half bathroom rooms in college markets home to the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision Schools. This year, Akron, Ohio (University of Akron) is ranked as the most affordable college town, where a typical four-bedroom home costs $121,885. Muncie, Indiana (Ball State University) took the No. 2 spot for the second consecutive year at $144,996. Ranked No. 3 was Ann Arbor, Michigan (University of Michigan) with a home price average of $148,000.

Other Indiana Division I-A Football School college towns were ranked as follows:

  • 9th Bloomington Indiana University $164,433
  • 23rd South Bend University of Notre Dame $183,938
  • 29th West Lafayette Purdue University $189,000

The top three “most expensive” college towns for the typical 2,200 SF four-bedroom home are Palo Alto, California (Stanford University) at $1,489,726; Los Angeles, California (UCLA and USC) at $1,347,125; and Boston/Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (Boston College) at $1,337,578. The top ranked “most affordable” conference in the College Town Home Price Affordability Index is the Mid American Conference with a average price of $182,322. Ball State is a member of the MAC Conference. The most expensive conference according to Index is the PAC-10 with a $747,180 average. The PAC-10 features a number of west coast schools as members.