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Homefacts, a subsidiary of RealtyTrac, has released a report naming Baltimore as the third most polluted housing market in the nation.
The study of man-made environmental hazards included the percentage of bad air quality days, the number of Superfund sites, brownfield sites and former drug labs. Baltimore trailed only St. Louis and Philadelphia as the most polluted cities and counties.
“Somewhat surprisingly, short-term home price appreciation over the past year and five years is stronger in the 50 housing markets with the highest prevalence of man-made hazards,” Daren Blomquist, vice president at RealtyTrac, said in a news release. “However, the 50 housing markets with the lowest prevalence of man-made hazards have higher median home values and much stronger long-term home price appreciation over the last 10 years, along with lower unemployment rates and slightly higher median incomes.”
| County, State |
Total Score |
Rank |
% Bad Air Quality Days |
Superfunds on Nat’l Priority List per Square Mile |
Other Environmental Hazards per Square Mile |
July 2014 Median Home Price |
1-Year Price Pct Change |
5-Year Price Pct Change |
| U.S. Average |
— |
— |
5.43% |
0.03 |
0.09 |
$191,000 |
12.4% |
19.4% |
| Saint Louis City, MO |
87.2 |
1 |
7.89% |
5.35 |
13.30 |
$132,200 |
1.8% |
-2.0% |
| Philadelphia, PA |
27.8 |
2 |
1.39% |
2.33 |
3.95 |
$107,000 |
-0.9% |
17.6% |
| Baltimore City, MD |
24.3 |
3 |
1.13% |
1.62 |
3.82 |
$100,400 |
-12.7% |
-19.7% |
| Hudson, NJ |
23.5 |
4 |
1.23% |
2.20 |
3.15 |
$358,000 |
15.5% |
8.8% |
| Denver, CO |
19.9 |
5 |
10.58% |
0.82 |
1.58 |
$295,000 |
6.1% |
63.9% |
| Wyandotte, KS |
18.8 |
6 |
8.29% |
0.63 |
1.97 |
$89,900 |
13.8% |
-12.3% |
| Tulsa, OK |
18.5 |
7 |
7.57% |
0.20 |
2.39 |
$137,000 |
4.6% |
10.5% |
| Essex, NJ |
18.3 |
8 |
1.52% |
1.64 |
2.38 |
$255,000 |
9.7% |
-10.5% |
| Jackson, MO |
17.6 |
9 |
12.37% |
0.33 |
1.12 |
$124,900 |
17.9% |
-3.8% |
| Pinal, AZ |
17.5 |
10 |
19.03% |
0.01 |
0.02 |
$133,300 |
3.7% |
46.1% |
| Jefferson, MO |
16.6 |
11 |
13.83% |
0.11 |
0.78 |
$150,000 |
7.2% |
0.1% |
