The Naval Academy's neighborhood is the 10th most expensive college town for home-buying. // California State Controller's Office
A survey of home prices in college towns by Coldwell Banker shows that Annapolis, Md., home to the Naval Academy, is the 10th most expensive college town for home-buying.
The College Home Listing Report compared the average listing price for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the towns and cities of the 120 Football Bowl Subdivision schools. The average list price for an Annapolis home was $522,420, according to the report, and was 10th behind such cities as No. 2 Palo Alto, Calif. (Stanford University, average listing $1,232,0700); No. 3 Honolulu (University of Hawaii, average $779,419) and No. 8 Seattle (University of Washington, average $570,535).
Enlisted members and officers assigned to the academy or neighboring Naval Support Activity Annapolis might experience sticker shock when moving to the pricey shore locale. But basic allowance for housing rates take real estate and rental prices into account, giving a chief with dependents $2,196 a month, while a lieutenant commander with dependents gets $2,763 a month — enough to cover payments on a $400,000 30-year mortgage, depending on interest rates.
So how did Army and Air Force do? West Point, N.Y., home to the U.S. Military Academy, clocked in at 19th, with an average listing of $293,791. Colorado Springs, Colo., near the Air Force Academy, was 45th, with an average listing of $193,968.
The homes compared were listed between August 2010 and August 2011 in 117 markets. (The company noted that Tuscaloosa, Ala., was not included because of damage caused by a tornado in April, and that Bowling Green, Ohio, and Bloomington, Ind., did not meet minimum listing requirements.)
