Originator clients in these cities have it good

The top-5 cities to build wealth have been revealed and brokers in one of those hubs may be surprised to see it made the list

Brokers in Detroit likely feel vindicated now that the hard-hit city has earned the honour of being one of the country’s best cities in which to build wealth.

“Detroit making the list basically means that right now people are interested in living, working, and investing in Detroit; it’s definitely a positive sign,” Wilkin Lai, a mortgage loan originator with First Independence Bank in Detroit, told Mortgage Professional America. “People are seeing some investment opportunity in real estate and taking advantage; developers and owners are realizing they held onto investments and have taken advantage of the market.”

Bankrate.com published a list entitled “The best cities to build wealth,” focusing on 18 of the country’s biggest markets. The ranking was driven by various stats, including savable income, educational opportunities, job and housing markets, and average consumer debt levels. And Detroit made the cut.

Making the list is a good sign for a city characterized as down and out. As home prices continue to recover, brokers can expect renewed interest in the housing market, which will help bolster business.

According to the study, the city’s strengths lie in the high rate of homeownership, high savable income, and low levels of consumer debt.

“Detroit’s high ranking may be a surprise because of that city’s high foreclosure rate,” Claes Bell, a banking analyst at Bankrate and the study’s author, told Fortune. “(But) in a place like Detroit, 75% of the people own their own homes. That’s because homes are more affordable.”

Houston came in at #1, followed by Washington, D.C., Cleveland, Detroit, and New York.