The great state of Texas may not be the first place that comes to mind when it comes to buying waterfront real estate, but a little town near Austin has been judged as the best one for it.
That’s according to a new study from Virtual Staging AI, which named Lakeway, Texas, as the best location in the country for buying a waterfront home. Lakeway sits just west of Austin in the Hill Country and rests next to Lake Travis.
Using data from Redfin, Virtual Staging AI put together six metrics on waterfront properties in 100 of the most popular beach communities across the country. The metrics include median price, median square footage, price per square foot, home price-to-income ratio, number of bedrooms and number of bathrooms. The study puts twice as much weight on the first four metrics compared to the last two.
Homes in Lakeway scored well by having 52% more space than the national average, and it’s more common for waterfront properties there to have four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Additionally, the price per square foot of $451 is almost 50% lower than the national average, and the town has a high median household income of $154,118.
Finishing second among the best towns for buying a waterfront property is Corolla, North Carolina, which is off the Currituck Sound. Nags Head, North Carolina; Rehoboth Beach, Delaware; and Greensboro, Georgia round out the top five.
The study also ranks the most and least affordable cities for buying waterfront property. according to house price-to-income ratios. The most affordable towns tend to be in Southern states, while the least affordable ones are in California.
The most affordable town for buying waterfront property is Kiawah Island, South Carolina, off the Atlantic Coast. The next four are Branson, Missouri; Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Osage Beach, Missouri; and Naples, Florida.
The least affordable town is Newport Beach, California, followed by Malibu, California; Newport, Rhode Island; Bar Harbor, Maine; and Laguna Beach, California.
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