Best & Worst CA Cities For First-Time Home Buyers

CALIFORNIA – Looking to buy your first home in California? You may want to reconsider, according to a new report by WalletHub. California cities ranked as some of the worst cities in the country for first-time home buyers.

Experts at the personal finance website compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 27 key indicators, including affordability, market attractiveness and quality of life. The data set ranged from cost of living to property-crime rate.

In 2017, 38 percent of all single-family home purchases were made by first-time buyers, according to a report by Bloomberg. When looking for a home, buyers should carefully consider the property's location as much as its features.

"If the neighborhood is unpleasant, it can sour the experience of a great home," wrote the authors of the WalletHub study. "Potential buyers may want to narrow their search down to an area with a good reputation before getting into housing details."

Overall, Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, ranked as the best city in the country for those looking to take the plunge. You read that right. While the city ranked 55th in affordability, Broken Arrow's real estate market ranked 26th and its quality of life ranked 11th, according to the report.

Here are the top 10 cities for first-time home buyers in America:

1. Broken Arrow, Oklahoma
2. Tampa, Florida
3. Centennial, Colorado
4. Boise, Idaho
5. Grand Rapids, Michigan
6. Thornton, Colorado
7. Frisco, Texas
8. McKinney, Texas
9. Cary, North Carolina
10. Gilbert, Arizona

You may want to rethink things if you're looking for your first home in Berkeley, California. The city came in 300th, ranking as the worst city in the country for first-time home buyers. Berkeley ranked 296th in affordability, while its real estate market ranked 283rd and its quality of life ranked 197th, according to the report.

Detroit and Flint, both in Michigan, ranked 299th and 298th, respectively. San Francisco, San Mateo and Oakland, all in California, rounded out the bottom six cities.

The best city in California for first-time home buyers was Roseville, which ranked 18th, according to the report. The next-best city was Sacramento at 69th place.

Akron and Toledo in Ohio had the most affordable housing, the report found, while Berkeley and San Mateo were the least affordable. Meanwhile, Laredo, Texas, and Flint had the lowest cost of living, while Sunnyvale and Fremont, both in California, had the highest.

When ranking the cities, WalletHub gave equal weight to affordability, real estate market and quality of life.

The main factor in the affordability category was housing affordability, which received a triple weight. It was calculated by dividing the median housing price by the median yearly household income. The primary factors in the real estate market category were the rent-to-price ratio and median home-price appreciation. The quality of local schools received a double weight in the quality of life category, which was the highest.

WalletHub used data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Council for Community and Economic Research, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Zillow, FBI, Insurance Information Institute, AreaVibes and Renwood RealtyTrac, as well as WalletHub's own research.

These are the best and worst cities in California for first-time home buyers, according to WalletHub. National rankings are in parenthesis:

1. Roseville (18)
2. Sacramento (69)
3. Vacaville (71)
4. Elk Grove (83)
5. Clovis (107)
6. Temecula (112)
7. Victorville (113)
8. Murrieta (125)
9. Bakersfield (134)
10. Visalia (135)
11. Lancaster (141)
12. Irvine (144)
13. Santa Maria (150)
14. Rialto (151)
15. Fairfield (152)
16. Rancho Cucamonga (155)
17. Santa Rosa (165)
18. Palmdale (167)
19. Moreno Valley (169)
20. Fontana (170)
21. Corona (172)
22. Fresno (173)
23. Ontario (176)
24. Mission Viejo (178)
25. Riverside (179)
26. San Diego (184)
27. Santa Clarita (191)
28. Glendale (195)
29. Antioch (199)
30. Chula Vista (200)
31. Concord (201)
32. Simi Valley (206)
33. Norwalk (211)
34. Thousand Oaks (212)
35. Stockton (214)
36. Santa Clara (215)
37. Modesto (218)
38. Carlsbad (219)
39. Richmond (222)
40. Orange (223)
41. San Bernardino (224)
42. Salinas (226)
43. Carson (227)
44. Oxnard (229)
45. West Covina (232)
46. Ventura (233)
47. Hayward (234)
48. Anaheim (235)
49. Fremont (236)
50. Vallejo (238)
51. Pomona (239)
52. Oceanside (241)
53. Escondido (242)
54. San Jose (246)
55. Garden Grove (247)
56. Downey (248)
57. Fullerton (251)
58. Santa Monica (254)
59. Santa Barbara (255)
60. Sunnyvale (258)
61. Compton (259)
62. Pasadena (261)
63. Vista (262)
64. Huntington Beach (263)
65. Long Beach (264)
66. Santa Ana (268)
67. El Cajon (272)
68. Burbank (273)
69. Torrance (274)
70. Costa Mesa (275)
71. South Gate (276)
72. Inglewood (279)
73. Los Angeles (282)
74. Westminster (285)
75. Daly City (286)
76. El Monte (289)
77. Oakland (295)
78. San Mateo (296)
79. San Francisco (297)
80. Berkeley (300)

Click here to see the complete rankings.

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