Where to Put Your Money When Stocks are in Free-Fall: Real Estate in Blue Chip Neighborhoods
With stocks in free-fall, and a pandemic from a novel Coronavirus upon us, many people are concerned about their investments. And rightfully so.
But in such uncertain times, where can you invest when protecting your money is paramount?
One place to consider is real estate. The best place to look for guidance on where to invest are those special neighborhoods that held their values in the last big downturn: during the Great Recession and subsequent housing slump, from 2007-2012.
Dr. Schiller and his team of PhD Geographers at NeighborhoodScout studied all 73,000 U.S. neighborhoods to reveal which have:
- a proven record of holding their value through, and coming back strong after, the Great Recession, plus
- the best combination of four unique fundamentals to hold onto real estate values in uncertain times:
- superior access to high paying jobs,
- top-performing public schools,
- college educated adults at high concentrations – who command high pay and are less likely to lose jobs in a down economy, thus promoting stability in the local housing market in real estate values, and
- at least 50% owner-occupied housing, promoting stability economically and socially in the neighborhood
We’ve identified these as ‘Super Blue Chip Neighborhoods.’ In this report, we’ve uncovered the Top 10 Super Blue Chip Neighborhoods with house values of any price. We’ve also uncovered another Top 10 Super Blue Chip Neighborhoods with median house values below $350k.
We used NeighborhoodScout.com data and the site’s Create your Ideal Neighborhood patented search tool to pinpoint these Blue Chip Neighborhoods.
In uncertain economic times, proven performance weathering market collapses along with existing fundamentals demonstrated to protect real estate values in uncertain economic climates are key. Here are the neighborhoods likely to hold their value even in another economic downturn, and come out strong:
Top 10 Super Blue Chips at any Price
| Rank | Neighborhood | Home Appreciation During Last Downturn | Public School Rating (100=best) | College Graduates Pct. | High Paying Jobs Index (100=best) |
| 1 | University Park, TX (Hillcrest Ave / Amherst Ave) | 2% | 97 | 89% | 98.75 |
| 2 | Highland Park, TX (Town Center) | 1% | 97 | 91% | 90.27 |
| 3 | Newton, MA (Chestnut St / Commonwealth Ave) | 5% | 97 | 84% | 85.28 |
| 4 | Winchester, MA (Washington St / Cross St) | 4% | 99 | 70% | 81.20 |
| 5 | Belmot, MA (Brighton St / Pleasant St) | 2% | 98 | 76% | 81.69 |
| 6 | Cambridge, MA (Cambridge St / Monsignor Obrien Hwy) | -6% | 92 | 82% | 95.79 |
| 7 | Falls Church, VA (Franklin Forest / Franklin Park) | 1% | 87 | 83% | 89.85 |
| 8 | Washington, DC (Woodley Park) | 5% | 82 | 87% | 89.24 |
| 9 | Arlington, MA (East Arlington) | -1% | 96 | 75% | 84.55 |
| 10 | Arlington, VA (Westover) | 3% | 84 | 80% | 90.03 |
We find that three metro areas with strong and recession-resistant economies are home to most of the Super Blue Chip Neighborhoods at any price: Greater Boston, the Washington, D.C. metro area, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. These neighborhoods listed here actually increased in value an average of 1.6% during and after the Great Recession, while most of the nation’s real estate was sharply declining in value.
Top 10 Super Blue Chips Below a $350k Median Home Value
| Rank | Neighborhood | Home Appreciation During Last Downturn | Public School Rating (100=best) | College Graduates Pct. | High Paying Jobs Index (100=best) |
| 1 | Worthington, OH (N High St / E Dublin Granville Rd) | -1% | 85 | 70% | 84.33 |
| 2 | Overland Park, KS (Overland Park / College Blvd) | -6% | 92 | 59% | 86.72 |
| 3 | Vestavia Hills, AL (Cahaba Heights) | -5% | 91 | 59% | 80.89 |
| 4 | Omaha, NE (Pacific St / S 84th St) | -4% | 85 | 62% | 76.80 |
| 5 | Upper Arlington, OH (Zollinger Rd / Riverside Dr) | -2% | 86 | 71% | 67.24 |
| 6 | Ann Arbor, MI (Cleary U / Green Rd) | -14% | 94 | 83% | 78.12 |
| 7 | Carmel, IN (Hickory Ct / Haverstick Rd) | -4% | 97 | 70% | 56.14 |
| 8 | Raleigh, NC (Cutright Dr / Erinsbrook Dr) | -4% | 85 | 62% | 70.88 |
| 9 | Columbus, OH (Linworth) | -6% | 68 | 67% | 86.51 |
| 10 | Fort Thomas, KY (City Center) | -2% | 90 | 52% | 65.96 |
For Super Blue Chip Neighborhoods with median house values below $350,000, most are found orbiting mid-western and south-eastern regional economic hubs that combine relative affordability with diverse, strong economies and superior social indicators. Even in these metro areas and regional hubs, most neighborhoods do not meet our criteria to be considered a Super Blue Chip Neighborhood. These handful of truly outstanding neighborhoods retained 96% of their value through and following the Great Recession, and with existing fundamentals, are well positioned to retain their values in current uncertain times.