The most affordable cities for millennia to buy a house

The US housing market continues to be beating.

Housing sales fell sharply in the second half of 2018, peaking in December in a particularly gloomy fashion: Existing home sales in the United States fell by 10.3% from last year, the most sharp decline recorded for over seven years, according to data released in January Association of Realtors.

This week, the NAR released data showing that home sales on hold fell by 2.2% in December, the lowest level since 2014.

The reasons for the housing slowdown are innumerable, but the problems of affordability, especially in the millennia, play a major role. Mortgage rates rose in 2018 as housing prices have been rising for a long time.

"In the first half of 2018, prices were still rising quite rapidly," Business Insider Daryl Fairweather, Chief Economist at Redfin Real Estate Brokerage, told Reuters. "In the second half, prices have dropped slightly, but mortgage interest rates have also peaked."

Millennials – a generation of more than 70 million people between the ages of 20 and 30 – have been slow to buy a home later than their parents, but their involvement is critical to a robust housing market, said experts.

The generation, on the whole, prefers big cities. But the busiest employment centers of coastal metros such as New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles are among the most expensive, and the cost of housing is one of the main reasons.

According to a Redfin study, housing prices have skyrocketed in these cities and the supply of financially viable housing on median income is inadequate.

The company badyzed the cities with the most and the least affordable housing available for sale at the end of 2018, comparing the supply of housing to the median household income for the millennia cohort in each metropolitan area. For the purposes of the study, they badumed an advance payment of 20%, a mortgage rate of 4.64% and a monthly payment not exceeding 30% of gross income. (Learn more about Redfin's methodology.)

Los Angeles is currently the least affordable housing market, with only 19% of homes available in the market, with a median income of $ 72,700 in 2018. San Jose (22%) and San Diego (24%) rank among the top three among the least affordable, while San Francisco (37%) is ranked 4th and New York ranks 7th (52%).

Overall, 67% of households in all metropolitan areas surveyed by Redfin were affordable for millennia in 2018, down from 71% in 2017.

The good news is that there are a number of large metropolitan cities with a significant amount of affordable housing, headed by St. Louis, where 88 per cent of housing is affordable with a median income of $ 68,800. Pittsburgh (87.5%) and Columbus, Ohio (87%) complete the top 3.

According to Fairweather, a theme common to the most affordable cities is that many of them have seen their population decimated during the last recession, as jobs evaporated. currently stands at 4%.

"Now these cities have rebounded, they have strong areas of education, health and even technology," Fairweather said.

"This represents a significant number of affordable housing if you are ready to live in these places," she added.

According to the Redfin study, you will find below the complete list of the 10 most affordable US cities for millennials wishing to buy a home.