Report: Yuma's housing price increases to be among best in nation

Yuma is among 15 cities in the nation expected to have the highest increases in housing prices over the next five years.

The city's annualized expected growth in housing prices is projected to be 7.7 percent from the second quarter of 2012 to the same period in 2017, according to the latest home price report by Fiserv Case-Shiller.

“It's great news,” said Michael Hall, broker for ERA Matt Fischer Realtor in Yuma. “But it's not surprising. We've already been seeing prices increase for the last two years. And we anticipate that will continue.”

Along with rising home prices, Yuma also is seeing an upswing in housing construction.

For calendar year 2012, the city of Yuma issued 238 building permits for new residential detached and attached single family homes, reported Alan Kircher, deputy building official.

So far this year from Jan. 1 though March 8, the city has issued 53 housing permits, he reported. That compares with 25 permits during the same period in 2012.

Nationwide, home prices are expected to climb 0.6 percent over the 12-month period from the third quarter of 2012 to the comparable period of 2013. The recovery is expected to gain further momentum in subsequent years with home prices projected to grow at an annualized rate of 3.3 percent from the third quarter of 2012 to the same quarter of 2017.

Drawing on Fiserv Case-Shiller's latest data on 384 metropolitan statistical areas, Business Insider identified the best housing markets for the next five years. Many of the metro areas that suffered the most severe declines from California to Florida during the housing market crash are expected to enjoy the highest price increases in that period.

Yuma is among them.

According to the report, home prices in Yuma fell 37.7 percent from the peak in the fourth quarter of 2006. The one-year worst home price change from 1980 to 2012 was a minus 13.9 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

Home prices here declined 1.1 percent from the third quarter of 2011 through the same period in 2012.

However, that is changing around with a projected 4.8 percent housing price increase from the third quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of this year. In further good news for the Yuma housing market, prices are forecast to improve by 10.6 percent between the third quarter of this year and the same period in 2014.

The report also notes that the Yuma metropolitan statistical area has a population of 200,870, a median family income of $45,700 and an unemployment rate of 30.1 percent — nearly four times the national average.

Tucson was the other Arizona city among the list of 15 compiled by Business Insider, with a projected annualized 7.2 percent increase in housing prices over the five-year period. Tucson's home prices have plunged 40.4 percent since its first quarter 2006 peak. The metro area has a median home price of $165,000, a population of 989,569, a median family income of $57,800 and an unemployment rate of 6.9 percent, according to data provided by Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes.

For the full report, visit http://www.businessinsider.com/15-best-housing-markets-for-five-years-2013-3?op=1.