Buying a home in 2024 was a challenge for many, but especially for those buyers with less experience. In fact, just 24% of homebuyers during the year were first-timers. This is due to many factors, including high home prices. However, with housing prices expected to continue their upward trend, some experts suggest first-time homebuyers are better off buying sooner rather than waiting to jump into the market. To determine which are the best markets for first-time homebuyers, real estate marketing platform Realtor.com analyzed housing markets across the U.S., taking into consideration local economies, affordability, and growth potential, among other factors. It found that the best market for first-time buyers in 2025 is Harrisburg, Pa., followed by Rochester, N.Y., Villas, Fla., Lauderdale Lakes, Fla., and Altamonte Springs, Fla., among several others.
Not only do these 10 markets offer low-priced home listings, but they also are home to relatively high incomes for people in the prime first-time homebuying age range of 25 to 34 when adjusted for the cost of living. As a general rule, we say a home being purchased or rented is “affordable” if it costs 30% or less of the renter/buyer’s income each month. All 10 of our featured markets comfortably meet this criterion for the median-priced for-sale listing and the median income of 25- to 34-year-olds in those places, ranging from 15.2% of income in Rochester to 24.8% in Wilmington. For context, the average share of income required for a monthly payment on the median listing across all the markets ranked for this analysis is 35%. On the other extreme, in Newport Beach, CA, where the median listing price is $3,932,500 and the median income for 25- 34-year-olds is $136,420, a monthly payment equates to 173.6% of monthly income. Read more