2006: U.S. Cities With Affordable Real Estate And Homes

2006: U.S. Cities With Affordable Real Estate And Homes

The price of housing is a major challenge in the United States. Some estimates note that more than 50% of the population cannot afford a median priced home. According to National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), of the total number of new and existing homes sold nationwide during the third quarter, only 40.4 percent were affordable for families earning the median U.S. income of $59,600.

But it is good news that housing affordability on the national level has not changed much in the third quarter in spite of a rise in the mortgage interest rates during the last quarter. This was because many markets saw a slight decrease in their home prices, which helped offset the rise in mortgage rates.

Indianapolis (Indiana) is the most affordable city for homes in America, based on the 2006 third quarter report of the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Opportunity Index (HOI). The city achieved this status for the fifth consecutive quarter.

Of the total number of housing units sold in Indianapolis during the third quarter, 86 percent of homes were priced at or below the U.S. median household income of $65,100. Homes in this metro area had a median sales price of $122,000, which is slightly higher from $120,000 of the previous quarter.

It is interesting to note that the most affordable U.S. cities for homes, condos and other real estate are largely from the northern industrial metro areas. The other larger cities that top the list for affordable homes in the third quarter after Indianapolis are Youngstown-Warren-Boardman (Ohio-Pennsylvania); Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn (Michigan); Buffalo-Niagara Falls (New York); and Grand Rapids and Wyoming (Michigan).

The report also lists the top seven smaller cities in America that have the most affordable housing markets. These are: Bay City in Michigan, Springfield in Ohio, Mansfield in Ohio, Lansing-East Lansing in Michigan, Lima in Ohio, Battle Creek in Michigan and Canton-Massillon in Ohio.

For both major metros and small metros, many of the least affordable cities are located in California. The least affordable major metro areas are Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Modesto, Stockton, and San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, in that order. The least affordable smaller metros (less than 500,000 people) include: Salinas, Merced, Madera, Napa, and Santa Barbara-Santa Maria.

The good news for homebuyers is that there are many affordable cities in the United States. Moreover, even for cities that rated poorly for affordability, there may be some communities within the larger city that have affordable housing. For example, although the San Diego metro in California rated poorly overall for affordability, there are some communities in San Diego priced to meet the needs of lower-income home buyers. A good real estate agent can help you choose a community where you want to live based on your housing budget and needs.

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Help answer the question about real estate

What is the best option for real estate investing for a novice to get started?
I am just starting out in real estate investments, and do plan to get a real estate sales license. I was wondering what would be the best route for the beginner.

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18 Responses to “2006: U.S. Cities With Affordable Real Estate And Homes”

  1. MustLoveDingos says:

    *sub*

  2. antoniob35 says:

    whoa!!it looks like a PICTURE!
    ur an amazing painter!:D

  3. monkeymanbob says:

    Nice work, you did pretty good.

  4. Trice P says:

    stay out of the mainstream area;
    that is, listing houses for sale.

    become an exclusive buyer's agent.
    Rep middle income and upper income
    black women as a niche.

    Also poke into doing commercial
    and industrial purchases.

    and maybe business brokerage

    plus, interview different agencies–
    most are Realtor focused; which
    means they take listings. YOU can
    choose not to do that via being
    an exclusive BUYER's agent.
    [they don't sell RE--they help
    buyers buy, and that is a different
    approach].

    plus u can find those offices that
    have 100% approaches [where
    the agent pays for desk space and
    does not split the commission.]

    available to help -though I am not
    in TN.

  5. Lisa L says:

    You have a LEGAL AND BINDING CONTRACT. all disclosures within the contract should be what the seller knows about the property. Now the other agent cannot FORCE you to sign anything. Basically what the agent is trying to do is cover his clients ass- if the selling side has a problem with it you can always take it before arbitration (see how they like that). Either way the selling agent is not within his rights to present other docs. for disclosures, nor do you let them off the hook. You will have no recourse if you do. Hope this helps.

  6. Hermann759 says:

    Great talent Der Mann.

  7. imtrudil80 says:

    Incredible! He looks so life like. Just amazing…and what a beautiful subject

  8. Linda704 says:

    Check with your local Howard, Perry & Walston school, or go to http://www.hpwreschool.com for all the info you are looking for. Good luck, it's hard but well worth it in the end.

  9. Xiang Z says:

    Russ Whitney has a great coaching program you may want to take a look at.

    Good Luck

    Sheldon Moylan of Dominion Lending Centres

  10. HappyNotGrumpy says:

    Excellent work. Pleasure to watch. Perfect music :-) ))

  11. Donald W says:

    http://myitcareer.info/

  12. Forbidia says:

    Brilliant Willy, Just Brilliant =D

  13. lidiabarbarita says:

    Very nice!!

  14. realreynolds says:

    One doesn't eliminate the other one. My broker is a Lawyer and his experience/practice is in Real Estate. After 10 years of practicing law, he decided to be a Broker.
    Go ahead!

  15. champ0y says:

    You’re really good man. You’ve got excellent talent.

  16. Ryan 1 says:

    I am a real estate agent in Australia with my own independent office.

    I am not sure what courses are like through franchises, however, here, the courses with regular real estate schools are very good.

    When you are looking to find an agency to work for, consider the following:

    - do they regularly pay for training for their employees? what kind of training and how frequently?
    - does management get regular training and upgrade their knowledge on changes in legislation etc (here we have special annual education to attend to stay in the know)
    - what internal systems and procedures do they have that will assist people who are just starting out? for example, a good computer software and training resources in the office for when you get stuck on something.
    - is there someone more experienced in the office that can mentor you?

    I believe that a franchise is not necessarily the best, often all the training that they attend is in house, and they are not open to external training providers (which can be very beneficial).

    You need to look at the individual operator of the office to decide if it will be a good environment to start your career or not.

  17. ladyvibe03 says:

    If you are talking about selling real estate as an agent, then
    You can take real estate classes in college or you can go to a real estate school (this is what most agents and brokers do) you will have to take a licensing test from the state.
    If you are talking about investing, then there are REITs you can invest in through a stock broker,
    If you are talking about investing by flipping (buying and fixing then selling)
    you will need to learn about costs of materials, value of real estate in your area, subcontracting for plumbing etc and have time for equity labor.

    below is link to kaplan schools, one of the better real estate schools

  18. Bdd says:

    Wow! what a great question from a 14 year old. a LLC (Limited Liability Company) is incorporated with the Attorney Generals office in the state it is established in. The best way to do that is to go to an Attorney. A holding company and a Development company may be combined into one, have different division or groups to do the different objectives, or even the same people.

    You can never have too much money to start a company, it's the too little that matters. Your best bet is to save as much as possible, write up a business plan, go to friends and family for investment in the company before you start out and hope to have a minimum of $50,000 to $500,000 to start your company. Then you can go to a bank and borrow, usually 2 to 3 times that much more to make your first purchases.

    Yes there are Capital gains even for companies to pay with investment properties.

    When you are ready, have your board of directors vote to take your company public by registering with the Securities and Exchange commission, with the assistance of a Stock Brokerage Company.

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