With mountains of student debt, a slowly recovering job market and minimal wage growth, many twenty- and thirtysomethings may not even be pondering the idea of owning a home. Plus, rising home prices and strict credit standards can make homeownership seem unattainable.
See Also: Find the Best Mortgage Rates in Your Area
All of this financial strain has created some serious hesitation among younger would-be homeowners. According to the National Association of Realtors, the under-35 crowd made up 43% of all homeowners in 2005. By the start of this year, that share of the homeowning crowd had dropped to just 36%.
Despite the discouraging landscape, you shouldn't automatically assume that buying a home is out of your reach. While many popular cities, such as San Francisco and Boston, are seeing home prices rising beyond most young people's budgets, plenty of other locations offer unique characteristics that make them perfect prospects for young home shoppers. If you’re expecting to buy your first home in the years ahead, consider this list of great cities for first-time home buyers:
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
- Austin, Tex.
- Dallas
- Denver
- Des Moines
- Grand Rapids
- Minneapolis
- New Orleans
- Ogden, Utah
- Salt Lake City
- Seattle Each boasts a significant population of millennials, promising job growth, affordable home prices and plentiful inventory.
-
Dow, S&P 500 Slip on December Rate Cut Worries, Nvidia Boosts Nasdaq: Stock Market TodayNvidia became the first company ever to boast a $5 trillion market cap, but it wasn't enough to lift the Dow and the S&P 500.
-
Where You Choose to Stash $100k Now Comes with a Big Opportunity CostThe Fed recently cut rates. Here's where to maximize your savings while rates remain higher.
-
Four Smart Steps To Take Before Buying Your First Homehome Buying your first home can be daunting. Here are four things you need to do years before you start house-hunting to prepare financially for the biggest purchase of your life.
-
Five Big Steps to Buying Your First Homereal estate We told you how to prepare years ahead of your first home purchase. Now here is how to close the deal.
-
The 15 Cheapest Places to Live: US Cities Editionplaces to live Have a look at the cheapest places to live in America for city dwellers. Is one of the cheapest places to live in the U.S. right for you?
-
Tax Breaks When Moving to Take Your First JobTax Breaks The cost of hiring movers and traveling to a new home are tax-deductible if you meet the distance test.
-
3 Cheapest Places to Live in the U.S.Feature The cost of living is super-low in these three cities.
-
3 Cities You Probably Can't Afford to Live InFeature High cost of living puts these places out of reach for most would-be homebuyers and renters.
-
3 Cheapest Big Cities in AmericaFeature Small towns don’t have a monopoly on low living costs.
-
Two Cheapest Cities in America Are in Texasreal estate The Lone Star State is home to low living costs, but that affordability can come at a price.
