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<\/p>\n Read in app<\/p>\n <\/a> <\/p>\n This story is available exclusively to Business Insider A Zillow analysis forecasts 20 out of the 50 largest metros will become more affordable in 2026. Relief for homebuyers is on the horizon in 2026.<\/p>\n Zillow analyzed<\/a> 50 of the largest US metros and found that 20 of them will become affordable by the end of 2026. The company defined “affordable” as mortgage payments not exceeding 30% of the median household income.<\/p>\n Although affordability is improving across the US<\/a>, Zillow senior economist Kara Ng told Business Insider that buyers may not feel it in already expensive markets, like Seattle, for example.<\/p>\n “The typical household buying a typical home in Seattle is going to spend 47% of their income on monthly payments,” Ng told Business Insider. “We expect them to spend from 47% down to 45% over the next year. So that’s an improvement in affordability, but it’s a very different starting place.”<\/p>\n The Midwest has reclaimed its spot as the most affordable region<\/a> of the country, taking up nearly half of the list, while the Sun Belt, once established as the hottest place<\/a> to be, sees a slight exodus<\/a>.<\/p>\n “The Midwest markets generally avoided the steepest pandemic-era price run ups \u2014 so if they were affordable, they’re probably still affordable now,” Ng said. “For the Sun Belt, what happened was that everyone wanted to go to the Sun Belt. They wanted outdoor living, they wanted sun, they wanted relatively affordable prices, so prices really shot up.”<\/p>\n While pretty much every market will experience some improvement in affordability, that doesn’t necessarily mean home prices are going down. Prices are essentially staying put nationwide, Ng said, but with mortgage rates decreasing and incomes steadily increasing, buyers in 2026 will have $30,000 in additional buying power versus 2025.<\/p>\n Here are 20 metros that Zillow expects to reach the affordable threshold in 2026.<\/p>\n 20. Atlanta, GA<\/p>\n Atlanta.<\/p>\n otman lazrak\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $374,477<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,473<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 30.6%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 29.9%<\/p>\n 19. Chicago, IL<\/p>\n Chicago.<\/p>\n Gunther Fraulob\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $336,642<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,404<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 30.4%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 29.7%<\/p>\n 18. Raleigh, NC<\/p>\n Raleigh, North Carolina.<\/p>\n Walter Bibikow\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $429,840<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,719<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 30.4%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 29.6%<\/p>\n 17. Columbus, OH<\/p>\n Columbus, Ohio.<\/p>\n otman lazrak\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $319,035<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,188<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 30%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 29.5%<\/p>\n 16. Kansas City, MO<\/p>\n Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p>\n Sean Pavone\/Shutterstock <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $312,751<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,161<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 29.4%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 28.9%<\/p>\n 15. Houston, TX<\/p>\n Houston.<\/p>\n Art Wager\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $303,084<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,119<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 29.8%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 28.8%<\/p>\n 14. Minneapolis, MN<\/p>\n Minneapolis.<\/p>\n JoeChristensen\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $377,251<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,562<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 30%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 28.7%<\/p>\n 13. Baltimore, MD<\/p>\n Baltimore.<\/p>\n Wirestock\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $391,913<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,522<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 29.3%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 28.2%<\/p>\n 12. Cincinnati, OH<\/p>\n Cincinnati.<\/p>\n Flick Foto Studio\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $297,209<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $2,034<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 28.6%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 28.1%<\/p>\n 11. Cleveland, OH<\/p>\n Cleveland.<\/p>\n David Shvartsman\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $238,517<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,723<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 28.1%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 27.7%<\/p>\n 10. San Antonio, TX<\/p>\n San Antonio.<\/p>\n Gabriel Perez\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $274,336<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,983<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 28.9%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 27.7%<\/p>\n 9. Memphis, TN<\/p>\n Memphis, Tennessee.<\/p>\n George Dodd\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $239,011<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,647<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 27.7%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 26.9%<\/p>\n 8. Indianapolis, IN<\/p>\n Indianapolis.<\/p>\n Jeremy Poland\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $284,684<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,874<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 27%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 26.6%<\/p>\n 7. Louisville, KY<\/p>\n Louisville, Kentucky.<\/p>\n alexeys\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $270,246<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,759<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 27.2%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 26.4%<\/p>\n 6. Buffalo, NY<\/p>\n Buffalo, New York.<\/p>\n Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $272,868<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,675<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 26.6%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 26.3%<\/p>\n 5. Oklahoma City, OK<\/p>\n Oklahoma City.<\/p>\n Art Wager\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $239,880<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,725<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 26.9%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 26.3%<\/p>\n 4. Detroit, MI<\/p>\n Detroit.<\/p>\n Sean Pavone\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $256,357<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,739<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 26.1%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 25.5%<\/p>\n 3. St. Louis, MO<\/p>\n St. Louis.<\/p>\n roman_slavik\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $263,846<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,841<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 25.9%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 25.2%<\/p>\n 2. Birmingham, AL<\/p>\n Birmingham, Alabama.<\/p>\n John Coletti\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $251,913<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,599<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 24.2%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 23.3%<\/p>\n 1. Pittsburgh, PA<\/p>\n Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n Sean Pavone\/Getty Images <\/p>\n Zillow Home Value Index: $218,845<\/p>\n Monthly mortgage cost: $1,519<\/p>\n Share of median household income spent on mortgage: 22.3%<\/p>\n Expected affordability by end of 2026: 21.4%<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"2026-02-16T15:37:01.222Z Share Copy link Email Facebook WhatsApp X LinkedIn Bluesky Threads lighning bolt icon An icon in the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115312,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[73,75,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-115311","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-pittsburgh","9":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","10":"tag-pittsburgh-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115312"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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\n The Midwest has the most entries and remains a firm candidate for most affordable region in the US.
\n Home prices are staying firm, but a drop in mortgage rates will give buyers more power in 2026.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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