It’s not easy to become a homeowner these days, no matter where you live. The real estate landscape is very different than it was prior to the recession. However, it’s important to keep in mind that your money might go farther in one part of the U.S. than in another. PayScale’s Cost of Living Calculator can help you determine how far your potential income would stretch if you elected to make a move to another part of the country; a new list from WalletHub might help you decide whether a potential move is a good idea from a real estate perspective.
WalletHub’s report, 2016’s Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers, analyzes 300 U.S. cities across 19 metrics in three different categories (affordability, real estate market, and quality of life). Let’s take a closer look at the cities that ranked toward the very top of the list and those that landed at the absolute bottom.
Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers in 2016
Overland Park ranked as the single best city for first-time home buyers in the entire country. WalletHub also dubbed this city the best city for families the last time they released that report back in 2015. Overland Park received solid scores for affordability, quality of life, and real estate market.
The city of Greeley came in fifth for quality of life and ninth for real estate market rank, both of which helped land it in one of the top spots.
Thornton ranked third overall for quality of life, but it still placed just below Greeley on this list. It’s a more expensive city in which to buy a home, coming in 125 out of 300 in this category. But, its highly ranked real-estate market, 22 out of 300, helped to move Thornton into the top three.
Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers in 2016
The city of Newark, New Jersey, came in dead last in this list of the worst cities for first-time homeowners. The city was ranked 229 out of 300 in terms of affordability, and the local real-estate market was ranked last, coming in as number 300 out of 300.
The city of Miami Beach is an expensive place to buy a home. It was ranked 300 out of 300 cities for affordability. Although Miami Beach might be a lovely place to visit, it’s not easy for first time home-buyers to lay down real-estate roots here.
- Oakland, California
Oakland’s housing market has bounced back considerably since the economic crisis – it real-estate market ranked 134 out of 300. However, Oakland is an expensive city in which to buy a home, and the quality of life ranking (296 out of 300) leaves a lot to be desired as well.
For more information, or to see how your city ranks, be sure to check out the complete list of the best and worst cities for first-time home buyers.
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