WRE News July 21, 2023
Buyer
WalletHub has taken another look at the U.S. housing market, this time with the newly published 2023 edition of the Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers.
For this study, WalletHub analyzed 300 cities using 22 key metrics ranging from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate to quality-of-life issues.
When it came to Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers, the top five were all Florida metros: Palm Bay, Cape Coral, Tampa, Port St. Lucie, and Orlando. The sixth and seventh-ranked Best Cities were in Arizona – Surprise and Gilbert – and the remainder of the top 10 berths were occupied by Boise, Idaho; Chesapeake, Virginia; and Henderson, Nevada.
As for the Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers, nine of the bottom 10 rankings were held by California markets. Berkeley and Santa Monica were the worst and second worst, respectively, while Anchorage, Alaska, was considered the third worst. Rounding out the bottom 10 were California’s Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, San Mateo, Burbank, and Daly City.
WalletHub identified Springfield, Illinois, as having the most affordable housing – defined as median house price divided by median annual household income – with a ratio of 1.67, which is 17.5 times cheaper than Santa Barbara, which had the least affordable housing with a ratio of 29.24.
Honolulu has the lowest real estate tax rate at 0.30%, which is 12 times lower than Waterbury, Connecticut, the city with the highest at 3.59%. Flint, Michigan, has the highest rent-to-price ratio, 26.64%, which is 16 times higher than Santa Monica, California, the city with the lowest at 1.66%. And Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has the lowest total home-energy cost per month, $100.84, which is 3.6 times lower than Bakersfield, California, the city with the highest at $360.76.
Stay up to date on the latest real estate trends.
Buyer
April 22, 2025
Mortgage applications for new home purchases during March was up 5.5% year-over-year and up 14% month-over-month, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Associati… Read more
Lifestyle
April 22, 2025
It’s official: Traditional turf lawns are getting a botanical makeover, and red creeping thyme (Thymus serpyllum 'Coccineus') is leading the trend.
Buyer
April 22, 2025
According to Realtor.com, the best week to list your house this year was April 13–19.
Buyer
April 21, 2025
If buying a home is on your radar – even if it’s more of a someday plan than a right now plan – getting pre-approved early is still one of the smartest moves you can m… Read more
Lifestyle
April 21, 2025
With all the bad news about how technology affects the brains of kids and teens—as it’s associated with higher rates of depression, anxiety, cognitive delays, insomnia… Read more
Seller
April 21, 2025
Unfortunately, a lot of sellers today are setting their asking price too high.
We Guide Homeowners through the complicated process of selling their home using our 4 Phase Selling Process and 3 Prong Marketing Strategy that alleviates their stress and moves them effortlessly to their next destination. Schedule a 15 Minute Complimentary Strategy Session Today