Buying a home is an important decision. In fact, it is one of the biggest decisions most people make in their adult life. However, a new study is hoping to make the process a little easier, at least for single first-time home buyers.
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The study, conducted by Homes, analyzed data from over 300 U.S. towns and cities. According to the study, the most affordable location is (drumroll, please) Edison, New Jersey. The average mortgage for a one-bedroom home in Edison is just 8.78 percent (or $292) of the median monthly income. Homes also told us about the least affordable city, and this one was a lot less surprising. The least affordable city is New York City, where the typical mortgage is more than 100 percent of one’s monthly income. And now we understand why everyone in New York has six roommates.
Other attractive towns include Overland Park, Kansas (8.96 percent of monthly income), Lafayette, Louisiana (10.1 percent), Sterling Heights, Michigan (10.87 percent) and West Palm Beach, Florida (11.15 percent).
Who joins New York at the bottom of the list? A few more surprises, honestly. Detroit, Michigan (100.01 percent), Oxnard, California (99.91 percent), Santa Clara, California (97.89 percent) and Elk Grove, California (93.13 percent) rounded out the bottom five and are the least affordable places for first-time homeowners.
Grant Simmons of Homes hopes this research helps younger Americans better determine where they want to work and live. In a statement, Simmons said, “Key for solo buyers is to consider locations where jobs are plentiful, yet housing costs are still catching up to demand. Many of these areas saw longer-term effects of the great housing recession with slower recovery, yet these areas are still desirable, have benefitted from an improved economy, and are attracting new jobs which allow a fair balance of housing costs to potential income.”
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Not everyone is willing to relocate to a more affordable area, but if you happen to also be on the lookout for a new job, it wouldn’t hurt to check out job postings in some of these affordable cities.
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