The 15 best U.S. cities to buy a home for the first time - Texas has the best ones | Blog

The 15 best U.S. cities to buy a home for the first time - Texas has the best ones

If you are planning to buy your first home, you should consider moving to Texas. According to a recent analysis by financial services company SmartAsset, five Texas cities are among the top 15 places to buy your first home. The study analyzed 185 metro-regions based on criteria such as affordability, growth prospects, competition and demographics to determine the best opportunities for young homebuyers.

One of the ranked cities at the top was Killeen, Texas, which emerged as the best place to buy a home.

This city is booming, and real estate prices here are nearly half the national average. The number of available homes in Killin is higher than most other towns, which is an advantage for buyers. It is also a young city, with a high percentage of residents under the age of 40.

Texas has long been a relocation destination in the United States. According to Census data, the state's population grew 43% from 2002 to 2022. However, despite this growth, home prices here are slightly cheaper than the national average, making real estate in Texas one of the most affordable in the country.

There's a list of the top 15 cities for first-time homebuyers, with the median home value for each city:

Killeen, Texas: $252,833
Wichita Falls, Texas: $186,650
McAllen, Texas: $210,833
St. Joseph, Missouri: $156,500
Cape Coral, Florida: $350,292
Waco, Texas: $262,817
Huntsville, Alabama: $294,550
Brownsville, Texas: $236,500
Green Bay, Wisconsin: $270,167
Jackson, Tennessee: $196,667
Appleton, Wisconsin: $267,250
Jacksonville, North Carolina: $252,783
Savannah, Georgia: $329,667
Muncie, Indiana: $144,983
Clarksville, Tennessee: $276,000

What makes these cities ideal for first time home buyers?

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First of all, the cost of homes in these cities is well below the U.S. median cost, which is $416,100, according to census data. In addition, the median home value in most of these cities is about four times the median income of their residents. That's a much smaller financial burden compared to expensive real estate markets like Los Angeles, where homes cost about 10 times the median income. Plus, there's less competition in these real estate markets, which is preferable for new buyers who can't participate in a home auction. Listings in these 15 cities have been on the market for an average of 20 days, nearly double the average for all metro regions studied.

Despite the lack of competition in the real estate market, these cities are still expected to grow at an average rate of 7.2% by July 2024. The national average for all markets in the study, according to Zillow's real estate market forecasts, is 5.4%.

These top 15 cities also have a relatively high concentration of residents between the ages of 25 and 39, which is the most common age for first-time buyers. The study suggests that most buyers in this age group would prefer to live among peers.

Interestingly, the best cities for new buyers tend to be small towns with populations around 100,000. This makes sense since housing and living costs tend to be more expensive in large cities like New York or San Francisco.