2018's Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers

Tampa is #2 for "Best City for First-Time Home Buyers," Miami ranks in the bottom, says WalletHub

| 7/16/2018

With July being one of the top months for home sales and nearly 40% of 2017’s single-family home purchases made by first-time buyers, the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2018's Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers.

To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time buyers, WalletHub took the pulse of real estate in 300 cities of varying sizes using 27 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.

Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers1Broken Arrow, OK 291Anchorage, AK2Tampa, FL 292Newark, NJ3Centennial, CO 293Elizabeth, NJ4Boise, ID 294Miami Beach, FL5Grand Rapids, MI 295Oakland, CA6Thornton, CO 296San Mateo, CA7Frisco, TX 297San Francisco, CA8McKinney, TX 298Flint, MI9Cary, NC 299Detroit, MI10Gilbert, AZ 300Berkeley, CA

Best vs. Worst

• Akron, Ohio, has the most affordable housing (median house price divided by median annual household income), with a ratio of 1.72, which is 8.9 times cheaper than in Berkley, California, the city with the least affordable, with a ratio of 15.25.

• Honolulu has the lowest real-estate tax rate, 0.28 percent, which is 13 times lower than in Waterbury, Connecticut the city with the highest at 3.65 percent.

• Cleveland, Ohio has the highest rent-to-price ratio, 17.8 percent, which is 4.7 times higher than in San Mateo, California, the city with the lowest at 3.8 percent.

• Shreveport, Louisiana, has the lowest average energy cost per household, $109.48, which is four times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $432.62.

https://www.floridatrend.com/article/24956/2018s-best-worst-cities-for-first-time-home-buyers