Fans of the vibe that comes with a college town may be more financially pressed if they want to find such a place in Oregon.
A report from real estate brokerage Redfin ranks two Oregon towns the fourth and sixth least affordable college towns in the U.S.
The median price of a home in Corvallis is $568,507, while the median price in Eugene is $501,571. The national median price, according to Redfin, is $439,894.
The above-average home prices near universities can mean an increase in the cost of higher education.
"If we want to make sure that college is affordable, part of that is also making sure that rents are affordable to students and also that rents and home prices are affordable to the people who serve those colleges," said Redfin Chief Economist Daryl Fairweather.
She said high home prices can result in increased student loans for rent. It can also increase a university’s salaries, thus pushing up tuition.
Fairweather said both cities have made improvements. She noted changes to Corvallis’ zoning as one notable improvement.
“Especially around missing middle housing but you have to really fight for that every single year because the demand is not going to slow down,” she said.
She said that Eugene and Corvallis should seek ways to prioritize urban infill projects so they can keep their appeal to young professionals while keeping mortgages and rents within reach.
“If you just build single-family homes on the outskirts of town, obviously it means that you’re building into more of the wildlife areas and it also leads to more traffic as people commute further and further to get to the city center for their jobs,” she said.
The two cities are not far from Oregon’s median price of $519,000.
The most expensive college town in the U.S. is Santa Barbara, Calif. with a median home sale price of $1.9 million. It’s followed by Boca Raton, Florida ($822,701) and Flagstaff, Arizona ($695,902).
