A national mortgage company, PMI Group, recently came out with a real interesting study that lists the riskiest housing markets in the US. Interestingly the Seattle market ranked #45 out of 50 largest housing markets and it is the only west coast city that ranks in the bottom 10 riskiest areas. Here’s what they had to say about Seattle:

Seattle, WA has also seen its risk decline considerable. It is now the only West Coast MSA among the ranking’s bottom 10. Employment in the metropolitan division is still down by 80,000, or more than 5%, from its peak in the late 2000, but the labor market is gaining momentum with a growing service sector and information industry. The area’s homes have gained 11% in the market value in the last four quarters, while its Market Risk Index value dropped from 84 to 64.

Digging into the report, it says the risk index uses “information on past house price growth and variables measuring employment and unemployment, as well as local income measures and interest rates.” It’s always good to get some positive numbers on our local market!

Considering how much home prices have gone up recently in the Seattle market, I was surprised at the results of this study… None the less, it is pleasing to read that the area’s economics are so deathly as to dwarf the risk of the higher home prices (at least compared to other cities in the US!).

(via Dean Foust at Hot Property)

UPDATE:
CNN picked the story up today and mentions that Seattle home owners can breathe easy knowing that the Seattle market ranked the safest (least riskiest!) in the West.