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Studying Housing Affordability with Wedding Costs

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Redin.com revealed in a new study that Detroit, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Cleveland, Ohio, were the most affordable places for couples to get married, and cover their down payment on their first home.

The average combined cost of a wedding and a down payment payment in Detroit, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh is less than $65,000, which is substantially lower than the national average of $109,000.

Redfin calculated down payment amounts in 25 metros, assuming a 20% down payment on a median-priced home as of April 2019, and paired it with data on wedding costs from Wedding Wire. The average cost of a wedding, including an engagement ring, ceremony, reception, and honeymoon in 2018 was $38,700.

The most expensive metro to host a wedding and buy a house was San Francisco, California, with costs adding up to $325,000. Los Angeles, California, ($168,000) and New York, New York ($158,000), were close behind. San Francisco’s median home price, according to Redfin, was $1.42 million, which would require a 20% down payment of $285,000.

A study from Trulia last month found that the west coast was home to five of the seven priciest metros—San Francisco; San Jose, California; Los Angeles; San Diego, California; and Portland, Oregon. Florida metros Miami and Tampa Bay were also included.

With a median home value of $590,700 and a median income of $75,110, only 8% of the ZIP codes in San Diego had 100% of homes that could be considered affordable. New York was a close second, with just 9.3% of ZIP codes had homes all could deem affordable.

Redfin reports that down payments in coastal metros such as Seattle, Washington, Boston, Massachusetts, and San Diego were more than $100,000, with San Diego having an average home price of $639,000.

Of the 25 metros studied, Detroit had the least expensive median home price of $139,900, which would require a 20% down payment of $27,980. The average price of a wedding in Cleveland was $22,000, with the combined price of a wedding and down payment just $55,980.

About Author: Mike Albanese

A graduate of the University of Alabama, Mike Albanese has worked for news publications since 2011 in Texas and Colorado. He has built a portfolio of more than 1,000 articles, covering city government, police and crime, business, sports, and is experienced in crafting engaging features and enterprise pieces. He spent time as the sports editor for the "Pilot Point Post-Signal," and has covered the DFW Metroplex for several years. He has also assisted with sports coverage and editing duties with the "Dallas Morning News" and "Denton Record-Chronicle" over the past several years.
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