With 14 percent more people becoming first-time homeowners last year compared to the previous year, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on “2021’s Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers.”
To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time buyers, WalletHub analyzed real estate statistics in 300 cities of varying sizes using 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.
The best cities for first-time home buyers were Chesapeake, Va., Gilbert, Ariz., Lincoln, Neb., Cape Coral, Fla., Boise, Idaho, Hampton, Va., Peoria, Ariz., Virginia Beach, Va., Norfolk, Va. and Surprise, Ariz.
The worst locations for first-time buyers were Boston, Burbank, Calif., Glendale, Calif., Santa Barbara, Calif., San Mateo, Calif., Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Calif., San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley, Calif.
Some best versus worst facts revealed:
- Toledo, Ohio has the most affordable housing (median house price divided by median annual household income), with a ratio of 1.06, which is 19.1 times cheaper than in Santa Barbara, Calif., the city with the least affordable housing, with a ratio of 20.29.
- Honolulu has the lowest real-estate tax rate, 0.29 percent, which is 12.9 times lower than in Waterbury, Conn., the city with the highest at 3.74 percent.
- Rochester, N.Y. has the highest rent-to-price ratio, 15.88 percent, which is 4.7 times higher than in Sunnyvale, Calif., the city with the lowest at 3.38 percent.
- New Orleans has the lowest total home-energy cost per month, $97.27, which is 4.8 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $470.38.