Buying a house is expensive, with average home sales prices surging in recent years. But there are deals to be had if you’re willing to be flexible on geography.
A wide range of factors contribute to the cost of buying a home in the U.S., including the price of the house or apartment itself, maintenance costs, tax rates and more.
The median home sales price jumped from $313,000 in the first quarter of 2019, to $416,900 during the same period in 2025, according to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Interest rates have also shot up, with the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate now standing at close to 7%, up from a record low of 2.65% in January 2021.
High borrowing costs and limited inventory make it a challenging time to afford a home in a number of U.S. cities, but there are metro areas where the dream of home ownership may be within reach for prospective buyers, according to a new WalletHub study.
Home prices, maintenance and homeowner’s insurance costs, plus a city’s cost of living, its real estate tax rate, and home inventory, all contribute to a city’s relative housing affordability.
Here are the most and least expensive cities to buy a home in the U.S.
Most affordable cities
Flint, Michigan, ranked Number One on WalletHub’s list of most affordable cities for homebuyers based on an analysis of 10 metrics, including low cost of living and affordable home prices relative to residents’ incomes. At $61 per square foot, Flint also boasts the lowest median home price.
It’s inventory is good, too: Nearly 21% of houses in the city are vacant, making it a buyer’s market and offering prospective homebuyers plenty of options.
Detroit, Michigan, is the second most affordable city for homebuyers, according to the study, which compared costs across 300 U.S. cities. Median house prices are relatively low, and over 22% of the city’s housing is vacant.
Pittsburgh ranked third-most affordable city to buy a house. Homebuyers there can get more bang for their buck than renters.
Least affordable cities
By contrast, Santa Barbara, California, is the most expensive city in the U.S. for homebuyers, primarily because of its low housing affordability, among other factors. Also in California, Santa Monica ranked 299th in terms of housing affordability, while Berkeley ranked third to last. Berkeley has the lowest rent-to-price ratio of the 300 cities, meaning its more cost-effective to rent there, than to buy a home.
Click here for the full rankings of the 300 most affordable cities to buy a home in.
Megan Cerullo
Megan Cerullo is a New York-based reporter for CBS MoneyWatch covering small business, workplace, health care, consumer spending and personal finance topics. She regularly appears on CBS News 24/7 to discuss her reporting.
