Houston is the No. 5 market in the United States for first-time homebuyers this spring, according to a new Zillow analysis.
The listing platform ranked the 50 largest U.S. metros by metrics including rental affordability, for-sale inventory and demographics to determine the best areas to break into the housing market.
In Houston, renters spend a median 22.7% of their income on housing — anything less than 30% is considered affordable — allowing flexibility to save for a down payment. In the least accessible first-time markets, like New York, renters spend up to 37.1% of their income.
The city also boasts 3.1 affordable home listings per 100 renter households, with 40.2% of all listings affordable to median-income households.
Finally, the city has an above-average population of residents aged 29 to 43 — a prime homebuying cohort, Zillow said, which is an important factor for young homebuyers looking to live in a community of their peers.
“First-time buyers are finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel,” Zillow Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy said in a news release. “Affordability is still a challenge, but rising incomes, stabilizing prices and improving inventory are creating real opportunities in parts of the country.”
Divounguy added that the top markets are less competitive, offering a “clearer path to homeownership” for first-timers.
Check out the full top 10:
1. Jacksonville, Florida
2. Birmingham, Alabama
3. San Antonio
4. Atlanta
5. Houston
6. St. Louis
7. Detroit
8. Raleigh, North Carolina
9. Baltimore
10. Louisville, Kentucky