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FLORIDA
5 Best Cities for First-time Homebuyers
If you thought that Florida with its pristine coastline and five
million dollar villas could never be a market for first-time homebuyers,
think again. According to an analysis on the best markets for first-time
homebuyers by Zillow, Tampa, Florida is the best market for all those
buyers looking at owning their first home.
For this analysis, Zillow looked at median home values where
markets with lower home values scored higher for their relative
affordability; home value forecast, where markets with stronger
forecasts for 2018-19 scored more as a good indicator to grow equity
and wealth; inventory-to-household ratio where markets with more
inventory per household were given higher points as a measure of
available supply for buyers; share of listings with price cuts to gauge
the competitiveness of the market; and the local buy-rent breakeven
horizon where markets with a shorter breakeven horizon demonstrated
a stronger financial incentive for buying over renting. Zillow then
ranked the cities by the average of all these parameters.
Tampa, Florida was ranked number one on this list of cities with
a population growth of 1.9 percent and home values calculated by
Zillow at $195,000. It also scored high on breakeven horizon and share
of listings with price cuts. e inventory for the city was calculated to
be 13,733 homes, while its share of listings with price cuts stood at 18.7
percent.
With home values at $143,000 and share of listings with price cuts
at 16.4 percent, Indianapolis, Indiana came in a close second. However,
its inventory of 6,476 homes was one of the lowest on the list.
Despite the hurricanes that lashed the city last year, Houston
Texas took the third spot in the rankings with a median home value of
$186,800 and an inventory of 26,275 homes. e city had a breakeven
horizon of 1 year and 10 months, with the share of listings with price
cuts at 16.7 percent.
Orlando, another Florida city also made it to the list with home
values at $216,100 and an inventory of 9,351 homes. San Antonio,
Texas rounded off this list with home values estimated at $169,300 and
inventory at 8,036 homes.
