Right now probably isn’t the best time to buy a house, unless you’re rolling in expendable income. Housing prices are soaring and many homebuyers are reporting having to offer $50,000 to $100,000 above asking price to even be considered. Many first-time homebuyers nevertheless remain undaunted. According to WalletHub, there are 14 percent more people looking to buy a home now than last year, which is why they put together a list of the best and worst cities for first-time homebuyers. The finance site looked at 22 key metrics to create the list, from affordability to crime rate, quality of life and property taxes.
The Best and Worst Cities for First-Time Homebuyers in the US in 2021
by
Eben Diskin
Jul 8, 2021
These are the top 10 cities for first-time homebuyers:
- Chesapeake, Virginia
- Gilbert, Arizona
- Lincoln, Nebraska
- Cape Coral, Florida
- Boise, Idaho
- Hampton, Virginia
- Peoria, Arizona
- Virginia Beach, Virginia
- Norfolk, Virginia
- Surprise, Arizona
Meanwhile, these are the bottom 10 cities:
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Burbank, California
- Glendale, California
- Santa Barbara, California
- San Mateo, California
- Los Angeles, California
- Santa Monica, California
- San Francisco, California
- Oakland, California
- Berkeley, California
Notice a trend? Though Massachusetts managed to sneak into the bottom 10, California is overwhelmingly the worst place to buy a house right now due to the astronomical costs. On the other side, first-time homebuyers might want to zero in on Virginia and Arizona due to their general affordability and relatively high quality of life.