According to a new study by WalletHub, home prices have surged in recent years, with the median sales price rising from $313,000 in Q1 2019 to $403,200 in Q1 of 2026.
Prices may be beginning to ease in some parts of the country this year, WalletHub noted, and interest rates have climbed sharply. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from a historic low of 2.65% in January 2021 to 6.37% in May 2026, WalletHub said.
With both elevated home prices and higher interest rates, WalletHub said that many consumers might question whether homeownership is still within reach. The finance website noted that buying real estate remains more affordable in certain cities than others.
In an effort at determining the most affordable cities for home buyers, WalletHub analyzed 300 U.S. cities using 10 key metrics, including home purchase and maintenance costs, tax rates, and vacancy rates.
“When deciding where to buy, home prices alone aren’t a good enough indicator of how affordable things will be. You also have to consider how prices compare to incomes in the area, plus factor in things like the cost of living, maintenance expenses and taxes. The most affordable cities, like Flint, MI, Detroit, and Surprise, AZ, have low costs across several of these different metrics,” WalletHub Analysts Chip Lupo said.
Most Affordable Cities
Here is an in-depth look at the three Most Affordable Cities:
Flint, Michigan:
Flint is the most affordable city for home buyers, boasting the lowest cost of living index (COLI) in the country and the most affordable home prices relative to residents’ income. It also has the lowest median home price per square footage, at only $59. To put that in perspective, the price in the most expensive cities is over $1,000 per square foot.
Flint also has a very high rent-to-price ratio, which means that it’s actually cheaper to buy property than it is to rent it. To top things off, nearly 20% of all houses in the city are vacant, meaning buyers have a lot of choices. Part of this is likely due to the city’s water crisis, but Flint’s drinking water has now been in compliance with EPA standards for six years.
Detroit, Michigan:
Detroit is the second-most affordable city for homebuyers, with a median house price only being over twice the median household income, the second-lowest rate in the country. The median price per square foot is also very low, at roughly $89.
Due to people moving out of Detroit during past financial crises, nearly 22% of housing in the city is vacant, which makes it a buyers’ market compared to other cities where available houses are scarce. Detroit is also a city where you’ll benefit more from buying a home compared to renting.
Surprise, Arizona,
Surprise is the third-most affordable city for homebuyers, with the 18th-highest median home price appreciation, out of the 300 cities in our study, indicating strong growth in property values. It also has the eighth-lowest median real estate tax rate, helping reduce the overall cost of homeownership.
The city also has the 11th-highest Number of Quarterly Active Listings per 1,000 Residents, offering homebuyers a solid selection of properties to choose from.
