Which city has the healthiest housing market in Georgia?

The three healthiest housing markets in Georgia are in the Augusta region, according to a new study.

The report, compiled by New York City-based financial technology company SmartAsset, analyzed criteria including how long residents stay in the same home, the percentage of homes with negative equity and decreasing in value, how long houses stay on the market, and how affordable homes are to people in that market.

The city of Martinez in Columbia County scored tops in the company’s healthiest housing markets index with a score of 99.66.

The Martinez market is the state’s most stable, with owners living in the same home an average of 13.3 years. Martinez also is the third-most affordable housing market in Georgia, with home costs eating up only 17.8% of the owner’s income on average.

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Evans, another Columbia County suburb of Augusta, ranked second on SmartAsset’s healthiest housing markets index with a score of 96.10. Homes in Evans are even more affordable than those in Martinez, with home costs on average accounting for 17.3% of the owner’s income.

Nearby Thomson, located west of Augusta in McDuffie County, ranked third on the housing markets index with a score of 79.37. Thomson was second to Martinez in market stability, with owners living in same home an average of 12.9 years.

However, Thomson rated worst in affordability among the top-10 housing markets, with housing costs on average requiring 22.2% of the owner’s income.

All three housing markets sold fastest among the top-10 markets, with houses on the market prior to being sold an average of 65.2 days in all three cities.

Here is a list of the remaining housing markets in the top 10, all located in the Atlanta region:

City        Index
Roswell  74.76
Cumming             74.58
Dunwoody           73.84
Peachtree City     73.37
Tucker    72.44
Johns Creek          71.64
Sugar Hill              71.26

Source: SmartAsset

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.