House prices for urban professionals are still rising in Morgantown, according to survey results compiled by the West Virginia University Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) in the College of Business and Economics.

This and other economic findings have been published in the latest Morgantown Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) Economic Monitor, a quarterly publication of the BBER . The publication, which has underwriting support provided in part by Clear Mountain Bank, keeps local business and policy makers up to date with the latest economic and demographic trends in Monongalia and Preston countieslabor market area.

Morgantowns overall cost of living remained near the national average in the third quarter of 2006, but ranked the 85th out of 289 cities that participated in the survey,said Amy Higginbotham, an economist in WVU s College of Business and Economics.

The research survey calculated local costs of living in the Morgantown area by using a standardized formula provided by The American Chamber of Commerce Researchers Association (ACCRA). The ACCRA s Cost of Living Index is based on six components: grocery items, housing, utilities, transportation, health care expenses, and miscellaneous goods and services. Morgantowns average cost of living index was balanced by higher-than-average utility and health care costs and lower-than-average costs for miscellaneous goods and services.

House prices are a large component of the ACCRA Cost of Living Index.

The average cost of a 2,400-square-foot home suitable for a professional household in Morgantown was $319,428 in the third quarter. This was an increase of 4.4 percent from the previous quarter and a 4.5 percent increase since the last quarter of 2005,Higginbotham said.

While the price of this specific house has increased in Morgantown, it remains well below the price for the same house in Washington, D.C. and Manhattan, according to the survey. In addition, Morgantowns house price appreciation has not been as fast as Pittsburghs, where house prices increased by almost 12 percent since the fourth quarter of 2005.

Infrastructure, like highways, roads, water and sewer projects, remain an important concern for many regions of the state, including the Morgantown MSA ,said George Hammond, a research associate professor in WVU s Bureau of Business and Economic Research.

According to the latest data from FW Dodge, a provider of construction industry data, the per capita value of infrastructure projects in the Morgantown MSA has dropped from $423 in 2000 to $114 by 2005.

For the state as a whole, non-building contracts in 2005 (at $542 per person) are in the same neighborhood as they were in 2000 (at $542 per person).

Spending on highways, roads, water, and sewer projects tends to be �€~lumpyin the sense that regions need to spend large sums at one time to create infrastructure with a long productive life,Hammond said.Thus, we would not necessarily expect any one region or county to be above or below average in per capita infrastructure every year.

Further, infrastructure investment cannot on its own spur long-term economic growth,Hammond added.However, in regions that are growing quickly, it is important to support that growth with appropriate investments in basic infrastructure.

Copies of the Morgantown MSA Monitor can be found athttp://www.bber.wvu.eduandhttp://www.clearmountainbank.com. Information about the ACCRA Cost of Living Report can be found athttp://www.coli.org.

For specific questions, contact Higginbotham, 304-293-7534, Hammond, 304-692-2512, or Brian Thomas, president, Clear Mountain Bank, 304-379-2111.