Do you dream of owning a house one day? With homeownership at its lowest rate in 50 years, it can sometimes seem like a bit of a pipe dream. For many millennials, buying property is the equivalent of attending a Neil Diamond concert or wearing polyester bellbottoms: something their parents did that they'll likely never repeat.
But all is not lost. Bloomberg published a list of the most affordable cities in the U.S. for home buyers, and yes, this American dream is still a possibility. According to the report, if you want to own a home, consider heading to the midwest. The number-one most affordable city for home buyers is Des Moines, followed by Pittsburgh. Baltimore comes in third, with Minneapolis and Kansas City coming in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Not so affordable? Those sunny west coast states. It turns out that year-round mild weather comes at a high premium. Honolulu ranked as the least affordable, followed by four metro areas all in the Golden State: San Jose, L.A., San Fransisco, and San Diego.
And while New Yorkers might be surprised to find their city ranked as relatively affordable (#20), Bloomberg notes it's because the study takes into account the entire metro area. For New York, that includes large areas of suburban Connecticut and New Jersey. So while your Brooklyn brownstone dreams may never come true, it might be possible to own a home if you’re willing to join the bridge-and-tunnel crowd.
The rankings were determined by average income compared to average mortgage payments. In Des Moines, you’d only need a household income of $22,000 a year to be able to pay off the average mortgage of $613 a month — and seeing as the metro area's average household income is $72,200, that's a pretty feasible feat.
Editorial Note: An earlier version of this story mistakenly stated that Kansas City, not Des Moines, was the most affordable city for first-time home buyers. The story has since been updated.
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