In 2023, buying a home feels a lot like playing chess.
Higher mortgage rates have reduced affordability for many would-be buyers and discouraged homeowners from surrendering their low, locked-in rates. This has led to fewer home sales and some robust price cuts nationwide — especially in previously hot pandemic boomtowns like Austin, Texas, Boise, Idaho, and Phoenix.
With the market in such disarray, many Americans now believe it's not a good time to buy a home.
However, lofty prices in most parts of the country suggest there are still plenty of buyers seeking whatever homes are available. And for them, there's some good news: There are several metros where homeownership remains a sound investment, without taking a big bite out of your monthly income.
Mortgage marketplace LendingTree has just identified which large metros across the country are the best and worst places to purchase a home. The company analyzed data from the Census Bureau on homeownership rates, home value appreciation, household income, and more.
Insider highlighted the best 10 large metros to become a homeowner. Most of the areas that made the list — like Raleigh, North Carolina, Nashville, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Florida, and Atlanta — are located in the US South, a region renowned for its comparably cheaper cost of living than the West and East coasts.
"The South has the advantage of being more affordable but still a place where property values are increasing," Jacob Channel, the senior economist at LendingTree, told Insider. Buyers that purchase homes in expensive metros in the West or North risk not getting much of a return on their real estate purchases, he said.
However, just because a metro has relatively affordable home prices and stronger price growth does not mean it is the right place for you. It's important to think strategically about a home purchase and consider other factors like education, healthcare, safety, and recreation.
Read on for the 10 US cities with strong homeownership rates, how high home prices have climbed in each of the metros since 2018, and their current median home values, according to LendingTree and data from real-estate brokerage Redfin.