Russ Wiles, The Republic | azcentral.com
Arizona produces virtually no crude oil, ranking 30th among the states with a scant 6,000 or so barrels monthly. But the state’s housing market is about as overvalued as that of petroleum-vulnerable Texas.
So says Fitch Ratings in a new report, ranking the Phoenix metro area as the fifth most overvalued housing market and Arizona among the six priciest states. Valley home prices are roughly 16 percent overvalued, according to the New York bond-rating agency. The study ranks metro Phoenix as more overvalued than regions with much higher home prices, such as Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Tech and music hub Austin and energy hub Houston are the two most overvalued markets among larger metro areas, and San Antonio is fourth. All of the other overvalued metro areas, other than Phoenix, are in California or Florida. Austin home prices top the list at 20 percent overvalued, Fitch estimates.