By Lorie Konish | CNBC
Prospective buyers looking to secure the purchase of their first home this spring will still face a difficult market.
Yet there are signs some areas of the country may provide more opportunity for prospective owners shopping for their first piece of real estate. A new Bankrate ranking found the Austin, Texas, metro area is the best for first-time purchasers, while the worst is Washington, D.C.
The ranking of 50 metropolitan areas was based on affordability, which was given a 40% weight; job market, 30%; market tightness, 15%; and wellness and culture, 15%.
Kansas City, Missouri, came in second in the ranking of best cities for prospective homebuyers, followed by Raleigh, North Carolina; Minneapolis and Jacksonville, Florida.
Austin’s high ranking was “surprising,” given that affordability dragged down its score, noted Jeff Ostrowski, analyst at Bankrate.
“Affordability is a challenge in Austin, but it’s not as challenging as in a lot of the California markets or in places where wages just haven’t kept up with home prices,” Ostrowski said.
Yet Austin and certain other major cities are poised to see double-digit declines in home prices as supply outpaces demand, according to recent research from Goldman Sachs.
