10 Best Cities to Buy Your First Home, According to Zillow

In recent years, it has seemed almost impossible to break into the housing market unless you already have equity, significant savings, or an inheritance to tap into, as there simply may not be enough money to put aside for a reasonable down payment and pay at the same time small fortune in rent. Low supply, high demand, sharp price increases and competition certainly do not make the situation any easier.

However, first-time homebuyers are slowly making their way into the market— they made up nearly half of all buyers last year, up from 37% in 2021. A new report from Zillow lists the 10 best markets for those looking for a starter home. so if you’re interested in buying for the first time, you might want to consider moving to one of these cities.

Zillow used four factors to determine which markets made the list:

1. Rental affordability (proportion of median household income spent on rent)

2. The percentage of Zillow’s available inventory on which the average household would spend no more than 30% of income on the monthly mortgage cost.

3. Ratio of affordable homes for sale to households renting

4. Proportion of households aged 29–43 years

The logic is that more affordable rent means less time savings on a down payment for a more affordable home, and more inventory means more choice, so you don’t have to just take whatever you can get.

All included cities are large metropolitan areas. St. Louis came in first, with affordable listings making up 67% of homes for sale and only 20% of the median household income spent on rent. (All cities on the list are between 20% and 23%).

A surprising market here is Austin, Texas, which ranks fifth. Affordable housing in Austin is a measly 23% (compared to nearly 50% or more in all other markets), but rental costs are only 20% and 34% of households are of home-buying age.

10 Best Places to Buy Your First Home

1. Saint Louis

2. Detroit

3. Minneapolis

4. Indianapolis

5. Austin, Texas

6. Pittsburgh

7. San Antonio

8. Birmingham, Alabama.

9. Kansas City, Missouri.

10. Baltimore

More…