Georgia City Named Most Affordable To Buy A Home
Homeownership is something that many people strive for. And it’s something to be proud of. But, let’s be honest, it is expensive, especially with the cost of living these days. There’s a lot that goes into homeownership too. When it comes to buying a home, there are various things to think about. One website, Homebuyer.com did some research and found the most affordable cities to buy a home, and surprisingly, it was a Georgia city that took the top spot.
Homeownership
When buying a home, you have to consider the location for various reasons: proximity to family, work, and schools. Then, of course, there’s the cost of the home. However, according to The National Association of Realtors, the affordability of a home comes in second on the list of priorities when purchasing a home. The first priority is the “quality of the neighborhood.”
What makes a home affordable? Of course, the first thought is the overall cost and mortgage payment (and interest rate). But there’s also the property tax and insurance costs. And you also have to think of transportation costs to work, shopping, and school.
Most Affordable Cities
To determine the most affordable cities to buy a home, Homebuyer.com used data from the U.S. Census Bureau and Altos Research. They used public and private homeowner data to find the relative cost of homeownership in the country. The algorithm they used looked at the 800 largest Census-recognized cities in the U.S.
This report “reflects the traits and attitudes of first-time homebuyers.” They assume the home buyer would be using a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage with a 3 percent downpayment. And they also assume the homebuyers earn a “modest household income” and have an average credit score.
Macon, Georgia
Of the 800 cities this study looked at, Macon, Georgia is ranked the number one most affordable city to buy a home. They list the average mortgage rate around $871. With insurance, property tax, and transportation costs, they have the overall cost of homeownership at $1,892.
Macon’s Chamber of Commerce has been hard at work to promote the city’s low cost of living for a couple of years now with their Choose Macon initiative. The site highlights the great things about Macon and includes a cost of living calculator to compare everything from mortgage rates all the way down to pet care.
Other Cities In The Top 10 Most Affordable To Buy A Home:
- There were quite a few cities in Michigan that made the list: Detroit (#2), Flint (#4), Lansing (#9), and Pontiac (#10).
- Gary, Indiana ranked at number 3.
- Toledo, Ohio ranked at number 5.
- Syracuse, New York ranked at number 6.
- Canton, Ohio ranked at number 7.
- Springfield, Illinois ranked at number 8.
Another Georgia City
Homebuyer.com did break the research up into different categories. You have the overall most affordable cities to buy a home, where Macon ranked number one. But they also broke it up by large, mid-sized, and small cities. The only other city in Georgia to break the top 10 list was Albany, coming in at number 6 in the small cities category.
Georgia And South Carolina Cities on South's Best Cities List
