Mamdani plans pied-a-terre tax
Mayor Zoran Mamdani announced plans to tax luxury second homes owned by absentee residents in New York City.
This can be difficult for first-time home buyers.
Home prices are high, as are mortgage interest rates, insurance premiums, and monthly utility bills, not to mention daily living costs. On the other hand, the lack of housing supply creates competition as homes enter the market.
First-time home buyers are very often at a disadvantage compared to other buyers. For example, older Americans who are downsizing may be paying in cash.
In April, Zillow released a list of major metropolitan areas that first-time home hunters might find attractive. These “top-ranked markets combine lower rent burdens, more affordable properties and less competition, creating a clearer path to homeownership,” the company said in the report.
Jacksonville, Florida ranks first, with several other metros dotting the Sunbelt that have remained relatively affordable even after years of wild price increases.
Zillow’s methodology is based on several factors, including rent affordability. Rent affordability is generally defined as the percentage of median household income spent on rent. We also look at the percentage of properties for sale that are affordable to average income households.
In some top metropolitan cities, a whopping two-thirds of listings meet that criteria. The analysis also looks at the number of affordable properties compared to the number of rental households, which can give you an idea of how competitive the market is.
Finally, we account for the proportion of households headed by someone between the ages of 29 and 43 by measuring its appeal to younger buyers, who are more likely to be first-time home buyers than older Americans.
With all these criteria in mind, Zillow has identified Jacksonville as a top location for first-time buyers. As of February, only 23.1% of household income was spent on typical rent there, and 47.8% of all properties are considered affordable.
Meanwhile, 36.3% of the population falls into the 29-43 age group.
The remaining top 10 are listed below. You can read Zillow’s full report here.
- birmingham alabama
- saint anthony
- atlanta
- houston
- st louis
- detroit
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- baltimore
- Louisville
