Michigan's Best And Worst Cities For First-Time Homebuyers

MICHIGAN — With July being one of the top months for home sales and nearly 40% of 2017’s single-family home purchases made by first-time buyers, the personal-finance website WalletHub took an in-depth look at 2018's Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers.

To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time buyers, WalletHub took the pulse of real estate in 300 cities of varying sizes using 27 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.

Three Michigan cities made the list, but only one was a favorable city. Grand Rapids received the best markings for a Michigan city and made the Top 5 list of best places to buy in the country for first-time home buyers. The report touted its low cost of living and solid real estate market.

Detroit was ranked the second worst city in America for first-time homebuyers and Flint came in at the third worst.

In Detroit, which ranked No. 299 overall and No. 63 among large cities, also has some of the highest real estate taxes.

Here’s a better look at how it measured up:

Buying a First Home in Detroit (1=Best; 150=Avg.):

• 298th – Real-Estate Tax Rate
• 87th – Cost of Living
• 138th – Foreclosure Rate
• 247th – Property-Crime Rate
• 61st – Total Home-Energy Cost

Lansing also got a mention for having some of the lowest living costs for first-time homebuyers.

The cities rounding out the Top 5 with Grand Rapids were:

• Boise, ID at No. 4
• Centennial, CO at No. 3
• Tampa, FL at No. 2
• Broken Arrow, OK at No. 1

Overall, the least affordable housing is found in California, the report found.

Read the full report here

Image via Shutterstock

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