- theMReport.com - https://themreport.com -

The Midwest: Where Saving for a Down Payment is Easiest

Saving for a down payment is one of the most important steps in the homebuying process. But as the average home price eclipses $380,000, the amount buyers need to save up is increasing too. Knowing this, RentCafe [1] analyzed the top 174 metropolitan areas to find out where first-time buyers can save up for a down payment in the shortest amount of time. 

In order to complete this analysis, RentCafe used data from the U.S. Census Bureau [2], the Economic Policy Institute [3]Bureau of Labor and Statistics [4], and Zillow [5] to calculate the number of years it would take a two-person household to save for a down payment on a starter home. 

All-in-all, homeseekers should look to the Midwest if they want to save up for a down payment the fastest, as it had the highest concentration of cities to make the list. 

The analysis found in the 174 areas included in this study, 36%—or 64 metropolitan areas—were cities in which it is theoretically possible to save the recommended 20% needed for a down payment within 10 years. Furthermore, in all of the top 20 metropolitan areas it was found that a down payment could be saved within three years or less based on current market conditions. 

Major metropolitan areas largely did not make the list, opting instead for small- to mid-sized markets where incomes were relatively high and cost of living was low. 

“Notably, small- to mid-sized metros in the Midwest are the best for first-time homebuyers, and Illinois is the top individual state, with seven metros where incomes and the cost of living allow you to set aside money for a down payment,” the report said. “Namely, the fastest metros to save in are Bloomington and Springfield—both in Illinois—followed by Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Trenton-Princeton, New Jersey. In these areas, the average family could buy their first home in less than two years.” 

The top-20 cities are as follows: 

  1. Bloomington, Illinois
  1. Springfield, Illinois
  1. Cedar Rapids, Iowa
  1. Trenton, New Jersey
  1. Ann Arbor, Michigan
  1. Bismarck, North Dakota
  1. Bridgeport, Connecticut 
  1. Fargo, North Dakota
  1. Madison, Wisconsin 
  1. Des Moines, Iowa
  1. Hartford, Connecticut 
  1. Fond du Lac, Wisconsin 
  1. Champaign, Illinois
  1. Baltimore, Maryland
  1. Waterloo, Iowa
  1. Washington, DC
  1. Cincinnati, Ohio
  1. Akron, Ohio
  1. Decatur, Illinois
  1. Naples, Florida

Click here [6] to view the original data on RentCafe.com.