Binghamton has the nation’s highest-ranked real estate market, according to NBC’s “The Today Show.”
On the Oct. 27, 2008 episode of “The Today Show,” real estate expert Barbara Corcoran said that Binghamton was the best city in the country for “making money and having a great quality of life to boot.”
According to a press release issued by the city, Binghamton is ranked ahead of Amarillo, Texas; Charleston, W.Va.; Corpus Christi, Texas; and Des Moines, Iowa, which made up the remainder of the top five.
John Burns Jr., the owner and broker of Century 21 John Burns Realty, a real estate company located in the Southern Tier, said that the rating means that the “market is going up instead of down” in Binghamton.
According to Burns, the demand for real estate in the city’s market has increased.
One of the reasons Binghamton’s real estate market is doing so well is that the city “never had a big boom, therefore, never had the bust,” according to Binghamton Mayor Matt Ryan.
“While we continue to face tough economic times, Binghamton is making gains that show we’re on the right track, and it’s an honor to receive recognition for these efforts,” Ryan said in a press release.
Ryan said city residents and community members have helped this rating come about by taking a progressive approach to cleaning up the blighted areas of Binghamton through the Restore New York program.
This includes, Ryan said, the demolition and rehabilitation of over 70 properties in the area, as well as the clean-up of the worst ones.
Restore New York, a state program designed to foster economic development and neighborhood expansion through financial assistance, is also promoting home ownership through grants, according to Ryan.
Burns said that there are two reasons for Binghamton’s success in the real estate market.
“[Binghamton] never had a speculative market,” he said. “People were buying based on need and within their means, which results in a stronger market and fewer foreclosures.”
The second reason, according to Burns, is that the city had a stable system of supply and demand instead of one of extreme fluctuations.
The real estate market between cities is “like the tortoise and the hare,” Burns said, and “Binghamton has just been inching along slowly and steadily like the tortoise.”
Currently, the city of Binghamton is at an 8.7 percent price increase and an 81 percent increase in white-collar jobs, according to “The Today Show.”
BU students may have also played a part in helping the city achieve this ranking, according to “The Today Show.”
“A lot of students decided to come to the city and just decide to stay,” Corcoran said.
Binghamton University President Lois DeFleur also commended the city of Binghamton for the positive review.
“This recognition is not only good news for the community, but for Binghamton University as well, because it adds an important dimension to the recruitment and retention of our faculty and staff,” she said. “We hope that over the long term, it will also help retain our graduates in this community.”