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Want to buy an affordable home in a flourishing city? It might be a pipedream in New York City or Los Angeles, but elsewhere in the country it’s possible to buy a home on an annual salary of $60,000 or less in one of America’s new “boomtowns.”
Personal finance site MagnifyMoney crunched numbers to find “boomtowns,” areas with the fastest growing local industries, populations, and work opportunities in the country.
CNBC’s Make It then compared those thriving areas to the National Association of Realtors’ Metropolitan Median Area Prices and Affordability and Housing Affordability index from the third quarter of 2018, to find the country’s ten most affordable, prospering cities. (The index assumes a blanket 4.7 percent mortgage rate across all areas, and a monthly principal and interest payment limited to 25 percent of a resident’s income. It does not account for local insurance or property taxes.)
Four of the top ten cities were in Texas. The most affordable city on the list was El Paso, where the median home price was $158,200, where buyers can afford a home with an annual salary of $32,185, with a 20 percent down payment. An annual salary of $36,208 is required for a 10 percent down payment.
The most expensive city in the rankings was still within reach for those earning under $60,000 annually. In Dallas, $59,988 a year qualifies buyers for a 10 percent down payment on a median house price of $262,100. For those able to lay down 20 percent upfront, the required salary is $53,322.
Other affordable boomtowns that made the list included Charlotte, North Carolina; Des Moines, Iowa; Fort Myers, Florida; Grand Rapids, Michigan; New Orleans, Louisiana; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. [CNBC] — Decca Muldowney
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