Press release
Kansas City, Oklahoma City, and Louisville Top LendingTree's Ranking of Best Metros for First-Time Homebuyers
LendingTree ranks largest US metro areas based on first-time homebuyer friendliness CHARLOTTE, N.C., July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingTree®, the nation's
About this update from Lendingtree, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"LendingTree ranks largest US metro areas based on first-time homebuyer friendliness\n\n\nCHARLOTTE, N.C., July 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- LendingTree®, the nation's leading online loan marketplace, released its annual ranking of the nation's 50 largest metropolitan areas by how friendly they are for those buying their first home. LendingTree considered the following factors in its ranking: average down payment, average down payment percentage, share of buyers utilizing an FHA loan, percentage of buyers with credit scores below 680, and share of homeowners who spend 30% of more of their monthly income on housing costs. \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \nKey findings\nKansas City, Mo., Oklahoma City, Okla., and Louisville, Ky., are the metros that are most friendly to first-time homebuyers. Though each of these areas fall near the middle of the pack when it comes to the share of buyers using FHA loans, their high rankings across other categories make them appealing to first-timers. Oklahoma City, Kansas City and Buffalo, N.Y., have the lowest down payments in our study. The average down payment in these three areas is $33,188, which is considerably lower than the average down payment of $63,216 across all 50 metros. Kansas City, Salt Lake City and Oklahoma City had the lowest down payment percentages out of the top 50 largest metros. These three metros have an average down payment percent of 10.4%, which is about 4 basis points lower than the average across all 50 metros. Memphis, Tenn., Las Vegas and Virginia Beach, Va., are the metros with the largest share of buyers who have credit scores below 680. Slightly more than a quarter of buyers in these areas have credit scores below 680. This suggests that people who live in these metros have a better chance of securing a loan with a lower credit score than they might need in other parts of the country. At an average of 22.6%, San Diego, Los Angeles and Sacramento, Calif., had the highest share of buyers who used an FHA loan. FHA loans can be especially helpful for cash-strapped, first-time buyers in expensive areas like these, as this loan program requires a smaller down payment than some other loan types. Indianapolis, Raleigh, N.C., and Buffalo contain the smallest share of households that are spending 30% or more of their monthly income on housing. Buyers in these areas can generally expec...