12 Most Affordable Cities for U.S. Homebuyers: 2023

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Inflated home prices combined with high interest rates leave many consumers today wondering whether they can afford to buy a home. A new study from WalletHub indicates that prospects for owning affordable real estate in some cities are much better than in others.

During the pandemic, home prices skyrocketed, with the median sales price increasing from $313,000 in the first quarter of 2019 to $436,800 in this year’s opening quarter. Prices have started to decrease this year in some areas, WalletHub noted, but interest rates have rapidly climbed.

The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate surged from a historic low of 2.65% in January 2021 to 6.39% in May 2023.

To determine the most affordable cities for homebuyers, WalletHub compared a sample of 300 U.S. cities of varying sizes across 10 key metrics, ranging from costs of homes and their maintenance to tax rates and vacancy rates.

Researchers graded each metric on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for home affordability. They then determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank the sample.

For each city on WallethHub’s list, we added data on median home price, annual salary needed to afford a median-priced home and typical monthly payment from HSH.com, which offers consumers mortgage information, mortgage calculators, tools, help and expertise.

See the gallery for the 12 most affordable large cities in the U.S., those with more than 300,000 people, according to WalletHub.

(Image: Adobe Stock)