Looking to buy in Atlanta? You're looking in one of the most affordable markets according to Interest.com's first Home Affordability Study. While home prices and mortgages alone aren't necessarily deal-breakers, other costs such as property taxes and insurance make home ownership less affordable in some cities than in others. Instead of looking at costs alone, the Interest.com crew looked at a combination of median income, median home price, property taxes, homeowner's insurance, and other costs of home ownership.
As one of only three cities to receive an A grade, Atlanta ranked second in Interest.com's affordability grade, indicating that a household making the median income could afford a median-priced home. But Atlanta stands out in other ways, with a median sales price well below the the average of the 25 largest cities and lower ownership costs than many of the other cities. The study also gave Atlanta a paycheck power rating of 40%, an indicator of how much the median income exceeds the income required for a median priced home.
Rounding out the top three in the study are Detroit and Minneapolis-St. Paul, with an A and A-, respectively.
· Homes are truly affordable in only about half of cities [Interest.com]
—Sujin Headrick