Losing football, but affordable housing

The football team might need a little more seasoning, but the housing market in Tucson ranks #1.


EUGENE, Ore. (AP) -- The University of Arizona football team got its first win of the Pacific-10 Conference season last weekend.

Now a real-estate company has given the Wildcats a second win -- most affordable place to buy a house in the Pac-10.

A study released Wednesday by Coldwell Banker Real Estate ranked Tucson as the most affordable, followed by Corvallis, home of the Oregon State Beavers. The Pullman, Wash.-based Washington State Cougars ranked third.

Together, the three schools have twice as many losses as wins this season, but when it comes to buying a house, their locations are smelling like roses.

The company ranked the most and least affordable college markets in the nation by comparing average single-family home values in 59 towns.

They defined these homes as having about 2,200 square feet, four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a family-type room and a two-car garage.

Such a home costs $250,800 in the Tucson area and $327,000 in 4th-ranked Eugene, according to the Coldwell Banker College Market Home Price Comparison Index.

The index's average price in Eugene sounds low for the type of home in the survey, said Curtis Irving, owner and broker of Coldwell Banker Curtis Irving Realty in Eugene.

'For a nice, 2,200-foot house in an executive area of Eugene, that's three to five years old? You bet that's low,' Irving said.

Today such a house might sell for $375,000 to $400,000, a sign of just how hot the housing market has been in recent years, he said.

Still, that's not"