The financial website WalletHub recently looked at 300 cities to identify those cities best suited for first-time homebuyers. WalletHub used 27 metrics in three separate categories to make its determination.
Included in those categories and metrics were affordability (home prices, cost of living, insurance, etc.), the health of the local real estate market (how long it would take for the monthly savings of buying over renting surpass the cost of a down payment), and quality of life (weather, crime rate, recreational options, schools, percentage of the population around the same age as young first-time buyers).
WalletHub also broke down the cities into three sizes: large, midsize and small. Take a look at the top 10 cities by size and the primary reason each city made the cut:
Large Cities
- Tampa FL – real estate market
- Colorado Springs CO – quality of life
- Atlanta GA – real estate market
- Lexington KY – affordability
- Oklahoma City OK – real estate market
- Columbus OH – affordability
- Las Vegas NV – real estate market
- Denver CO – real estate market
- Phoenix AZ– affordability
- Fort Worth TX– real estate market
Midsize Cities
- Overland Park KS – quality of life
- Grand Rapids MI – real estate market
- Boise ID – quality of life
- Peoria AZ – real estate market
- McKinney TX – real estate market
- Lincoln NB – quality of life
- Chandler AZ – affordability
- Frisco TX – real estate market
- Gilbert AZ – affordability
- Orlando FL – real estate market
Small Cities
- Thornton CO – quality of life
- Greeley CO – quality of life
- Arvada CO – quality of life
- Centennial CO – quality of life
- Murfreesboro TN – real estate market
- Roanoke VA – affordability
- Charleston SC – real estate market
- Kenosha WI – quality of life
- Broken Arrow OK – quality of life
- Westminster CO – quality of life
