NYC Is 2020’s 5th Worst City For First-Time Home Buyers: Study

Nikki Gaskins
Updated ·2 min read

NEW YORK CITY—Buying a home for the first time is an exciting milestone for most Americans; however, if you're looking to purchase your new home in New York City, you may want to think really hard about that decision.

Living in NYC certainly has its perks, however, many people often begin searching for their dream homes without a realistic idea of market prices, interest rates or even their eligibility to get a mortgage. The median home value in New York is $652,307, Zillow reports. In Manhattan, the median home value is $1,322,100; in Brooklyn it's $718,400 and Queens it's $517,800.

According to a new study by Wallethub, New York City is 2020’s 5th worst city for first-time home buyers. The study examined 300 cities of varying sizes using 26 key metrics, such as housing affordability, cost of living, real-estate tax rate and property-crime rate.

When it comes to affordability, New York City ranks 288. When it comes to quality of life, "The Bigg Apple" ranks 209, the study reports. New York ranks No. 296 overall and No. 63 among large cities. Cities that ranked worse than NYC were Detroit, MI; Santa Barbara, CA; San Francisco, CA and Berkeley, CA.

According to Wallethub, the 'Top 10' best places for first-time home buyers in 2020 are:

1. Henderson, NV
2. Boise, ID
3. Thorton, CO
4. Chesapeake, VA
5. Gilbert, AZ
6. Tampa, FL
7. Las Vegas, NV
8. North Las Vegas, NV
9. Peoria, AZ
10. Lincoln, NE

Best Places for First-Time Home Buyers: Rankings

Source: WalletHub

First-time purchases make up a sizable chunk of the real estate market, according to Wallethub. In the fourth quarter of 2019, 39 percent of all U.S. single-family home purchases were made by first-time buyers. While many people have been financially hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic, mortgage interest rates have hit record lows.

This article originally appeared on the New York City Patch