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.
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The Best and Worst Cities for First-Time Homebuyers in the US in 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. 