Are higher housing costs holding you back from purchasing a home?
That wouldn't be surprising considering that US housing affordability fell to a 10-year low, the National Association of Home Builders announced in November. In cities across the country, especially in pandemic boomtowns like Austin, Phoenix, and Bozeman, where each saw an influx of remote workers and robust population growth in the last couple of years, elevated home prices are truly terrifying potential homebuyers.
But despite the record high sale prices and equally steep mortgage rates in 2022, there are still some cities in the United States where the average earner can afford a home.
By scraping economic and housing data to predict the growth of home prices and sales in 100 of biggest US metros, Realtor.com ranked the top places where people can still buy an affordable home in 2023. According to their methodology, this year's homebuyers can expect reasonable deals in cities like Hartford, Connecticut and El Paso, Texas, both of which avoided much of the intense buyer competition and rapid home price growth seen in other parts of the country during the pandemic. At a time where the typical home is priced near $400,000, a good indicator of a housing market's health is the balance between home sales and price growth.
However, just because a city may be relatively affordable compared to others doesn't mean that it's the perfect fit for everyone. When buying a home it's also important to consider the cost of living, as well as access to jobs, schools, healthcare and food. Read on to see if any of these metro areas meet the mark: