Affordability issues may be keeping some first-time buyers on the sidelines—the percentage of homes purchased by this group has fallen to 32 percent, which is 8 percentage points below the historical norm, according to the National Association of REALTORS®—but in some cities, homeownership is more accessible to millennials.
In its third annual study, financial website SmartAsset.com released its findings for 2017's best cities for first-time home buyers. To identify the cities, SmartAsset culled data from places with a minimum population of 300,000 and ranked them across seven key factors, including average value per square foot, loan funding rate, and market volatility.
Texas had the most cities in the top 25 on SmartAsset's list. The state is home to many mortgage lenders, and its local housing markets are less volatile than other states, researchers note. The following are SmartAsset's top 11 cities for first-time home buyers:
- Pittsburgh
- Oklahoma City
- Omaha, Neb.
- Indianapolis
- Tulsa, Okla.
- San Antonio
- Houston
- Colorado Springs, Colo.
- Fort Worth, Texas
- Louisville, Ky.
- Wichita, Kan.
Source: “The Best Cities for First-Time Homebuyers in 2017,” Smartasset.com (April 5, 2017)
