If you’re a young adult looking to buy a first home, congratulations and good luck — you’ll need it, especially in California.
According to Bankrate, the Golden State is the toughest in the nation for first-time buyers hoping to purchase a home. Bankrate says myriad factors — including having the tightest housing market in the U.S. and affordability issues — make California an especially difficult state for first-time homebuyers.
Rolf Pendall, co-director of the Metropolitan Housing and Communities Policy Center at the Urban Institute, tells Bankrate:
“When you have a state like California where the housing prices are really high and the rental housing is also really expensive, unless you have access to wealth from some source that’s not your job, it’s going to be really hard for you to amass enough of a down payment, and also the kind of credit that you need to get into the housing market.”
Bankrate used the following factors to rank the states for first-time homebuyers:
- Housing affordability
- Job market for young adults
- Tightness of the housing market
- Credit availability
- Homeownership among people under age 35
Although states like California, New York, Texas, Colorado and Oregon have thriving urban areas popular with young millennials, those states are among the toughest for first-time homebuyers to purchase a house.
Bankrate says young adults “may have to stick to smaller, interior states to find a hospitable homebuying climate.”
The 10 toughest states for first-time homebuyers to purchase a home are:
- California
- Hawaii
- New York
- Louisiana
- Mississippi
- Rhode Island
- Texas
- Colorado
- Oregon
- Massachusetts
On the flip side, the 10 easiest states for first-time homebuyers are:
- Iowa
- Utah
- Minnesota
- Kansas
- Missouri
- North Dakota
- South Dakota
- Wyoming
- Vermont
- Nebraska
If you are searching for a new home, we have some advice that can help. For more tips, check out:
You can also compare the best mortgage rates in our Solutions Center.
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