When it comes to first-time home buyers, report shows New England no bargain

With mortgage interest rates hitting record lows but many Americans struggling financially due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the personal-finance website WalletHub today released its report on 2020's Best and 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 26 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.

Best vs. Worst

• Akron, Ohio, has the most affordable housing (median house price divided by median annual household income), with a ratio of 1.90, which is 7.8 times cheaper than in Berkeley, California, the city with the least affordable housing, with a ratio of 14.82.
  
• Honolulu has the lowest real-estate tax rate, 0.29 percent, which is 13.1 times lower than in Waterbury, Connecticut, the city with the highest at 3.79 percent.
  
• Rochester, New York, has the highest rent-to-price ratio, 15.88 percent, which is 4.7 times higher than in Sunnyvale, California, the city with the lowest at 3.38 percent.
  
• Westminster, Colorado, has the lowest total home-energy cost per month, $99.29, which is 3.9 times lower than in Honolulu, the city with the highest at $388.18.

To view the full report and your city's rank, please visit:
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-cities-for-first-time-home-buyers/5564/