Are you a homeowner in New Jersey? No wonder you look upset

A new analysis ranks ranks New Jersey as one of the worst states in the nation for home-ownership.

The eighth-worst, to be precise.

The study, conducted by the consumer site ValuePenguin, considered a number of factors, according to lead research analyst Craig Casazza.

“We looked at the strength of the housing market in each state, as well as livability, how good the school system is, how high the crime rate is, and the cost of maintaining a home,” he said.

“The data indicates that health of the housing market and the livability factor in New Jersey is okay, middle of the pack, but what really brought New Jersey down in the ranking was how expensive it was to maintain the home.”

He said those factors include the cost of insurance in the Garden State.

“New Jersey has seen a lot of property damage costs in the last 60 years, which led it to have a lot of homeowners claims, so that makes the insurance in general more expensive," he said.

He added “mortgage rates in New Jersey are higher than other places, and the average cost to maintain the home compared to the median income in the state was also pretty high — you know just property taxes, other home maintaining costs.”

He said Jersey has the worst ranking of all the states in the Northeast, and the ranking is similar to several states in the Gulf region, including Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, Alabama.

“These are places that have a higher crime rate, a lot of storms, and the markets there (for homes) aren’t as strong,” he said.

The study determined total homeowner scores on a scale of 1 to 100. The state with the best score was Iowa, with 82.60, while New Jersey got a 39.54.

The 10 worst homeowner states in the country ( and their homeowner scores) are:

• Louisiana 20.97
• Mississippi 29.32
• Tennessee 29.59
• New Mexico 34.69
• Alabama 35.04
• Missouri 36.64
• Texas 39.21
• New Jersey 39.54
• California 39.97
• Georgia 41.53

The 10 best states are:

• Iowa 82.60
• South Dakota 81.38
• Wyoming 79.49
• Nebraska 78.17
• Maine 77.44
• Minnesota 75.37
• West Virginia 76.03
• Michigan 75.74
• New Hampshire 72.28
• Wisconsin 71.25

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