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42 AMERICA'S SAFEST CITIES Communities in large urban centers and metro areas continue to remain some of the safest to live in according to a list of the Safest Cities in the United States released by NeighborhoodScout. e report compares the safety of cities with 25,000 people or more across the country, based on the number of crimes reported and the population of the city. "We continue to see bedroom communities which are within large metro areas and near major urban centers like Boston, Chicago, and New York, make the top of our list," said Dr. Andrew Schiller, CEO, and founder of Location Inc. and NeighborhoodScout. "ese safe communities within the urban/suburban fabric of America's largest metropolitan areas often combine access to high-paying jobs in the urban center, decent schools, and a high quality of life. is access to opportunity increases home values with the result often being lower crime." e list takes into account both, violent crimes and property crimes and population data available from the U.S. Census Bureau at the time of each analysis. For the 2018 rankings, NeighborhoodScout used the 2016 population figures. e report bases its crime data on the FBI's most recent 'Final, non- preliminary' data, which is the most up-to- date data for full national coverage. According to the list, it's safest to live in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Ridgefield jumped two spots to first place after being placed third in the 2017 rankings. Bergenfield, New Jersey, took the second spot for 2018, up from No. 6 in 2017. Franklin, Massachusetts occupied the third position, followed by Lexington and Shrewsbury, both in Massachusetts, rounding up the top five safest cities in the United States. Other cities that made it to the Top 10 list included Zionsville, Indiana; Buffalo Grove, Illinois; Weston, Florida; Lake in the Hills, Illinois, and Billerica, Massachusetts. At 19 cities, Massachusetts was the state with the most number of safe cities, followed by Illinois (18 cities), California (10 cities), Connecticut and Texas (six cities), and New HPI RISES AS HOME INVENTORY REMAINS LOW At the end of Q 4, home price values nationally were up year-over-year for the fifth consecutive month, according to the latest CoreLogic Home Price Index and HPI Forecast report. e report found that in December 2017, home prices in the United States were half a percent higher in December than in November and an average 6.6 percent higher than in December 2016. Higher growth rates occurred in the West, namely in California, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Washington. Moreover, CoreLogic reported, home price values are expected to be another 4.3 percent higher this coming December than they were at the end of 2017. CoreLogic expects monthly values for 2018 to be about half a percent higher than their corresponding 2017 months were. Part of the reason home values are on such an upswing is the lingering shortage of houses available on the market, and part is a still- robust economy. "e number of homes for sale has remained very low," said Dr. Frank Nothaft, Chief Economist for CoreLogic. "Job growth lowered the unemployment rate to 4.1 percent by year's end, the lowest level in 17 years. Rising income and consumer confidence has increased the number of prospective homebuyers. e net result of rising demand and limited for-sale inventory is a continued appreciation in home prices." Frank Martell, President and CEO of CoreLogic, credited the price growth to "aggressive monetary policy, the economic and jobs recovery, and a lack of housing stock." is, Martell said, is making it tough for less affluent buyers to find homes. "As home prices and the cost of originating loans rise, affordability continues to erode, making it more challenging for both first-time buyers and moderate-income families to buy. At this point, we estimate that more than one- third of the 100 largest metropolitan areas are overvalued." According to CoreLogic, 35 percent of the top 100 metropolitan areas had an overvalued housing market as of December. Almost half the top 50 markets were overvalued. Conversely, 28 percent of the top 100 metros and 14 percent of the top 50 metros were undervalued. irty- seven percent were where they should be.