ZipRealty Ranks Most, Least Affordable Metros of 2013

Texas has more than starry skies and wide open spaces--according to a new study from ""ZipRealty, Inc."":http://www.ziprealty.com/, the Lone Star State is also home to three of the country's most affordable housing markets.

[IMAGE]

The online real estate brokerage company analyzed two years' worth of multiple listing service data and Census Bureau information to come up with a list of the top 10 most affordable housing markets of 2013. The evaluation compared median home sales prices in 30 metro areas to median household income levels in those same cities. The areas with the lowest ratios of price-to-household-income were deemed most affordable for the study.

According to the findings, metro areas in Texas and in non-coastal regions are the best places to find a real estate bargain.

""ZipRealty's analysis shows that in the most affordable areas, the average home sells for about five to six times annual average household income levels,"" said Lanny Baker, ZipRealty president and CEO. ""However, at the other end of the spectrum, homes in the least affordable metro areas are selling for as much as 11 to 13 times the local household income standards, and in one city we surveyed, the average house price to income level ratio was almost 17.""

The coveted title of ""Most Affordable Market of 2013"" goes to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where the median sales price is 5.27 times the median household income.

The DFW area is followed by Houston, where the average price-to-income-level ratio is 5.43, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, which boasts a ratio of 5.50. (The third Texan city on the list is Austin, which ranks No. 7 with a ratio of 6.13.)

Meanwhile, metros located on or close to the coasts make up the list of least affordable areas. Washington, D.C., takes the top spot, with the average median price costing 16.78 times the average household income. Brooklyn was second (with a ratio of 16.58), while the San Francisco Bay Area ranked third (with a ratio of 13.81). Four of the top 10 least affordable areas this year are in California, with the remaining three located in the Southland region.

""Purchasing a home is a major ticket item for people in any city, and yet our research clearly shows that housing affordability can differ vastly from one city to the next. It is important for consumers to understand how housing in their local market tends to be priced relative not only to local income levels, but in comparison to other areas of the nation,"" Baker said.