Providence Ranks #253 for Best Places for 1st Time Homebuyers

Providence Ranks #253 for Best Places for 1st Time Homebuyers

Providence ranks near the bottom of 300 cities for the best places for first-time homebuyers, according to a new report.

Rhode Island is experiencing a non-stop spike in the median price home price — in May Rhode Island saw the median sales price of single-family homes rose to $365,000, an 18 percent gain since May 2020.

Overall, Providence ranks 253rd of the 300 cities tracked.

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In Providence, the median price in the city is  $260,000 for all of the neighborhoods outside of the East Side -- the median price in May on the East Side is $807,500.

Across Rhode Island, transactions also increased by 19.1% year-over-year, though many closings in the spring of 2020 were curtailed by the pandemic. Compared to May of 2019, last month’s closing activity was down 17.8%.

Why Providence ranks so poorly for first-time homebuyers is more than a story of affordability according to the study.

Providence ranks especially poorly for "quality of life" due to the high crime -- the city ranks #281 in the report.

Wallethub reports, “Buying a home for the first time is an exciting and important milestone for many Americans. Their purchases make up a sizable chunk of the market, too.”

In 2020, 40% of all U.S. single-family home purchases were made by first-time buyers, and 14% more people became first-time buyers than the previous year. This growth is due in part to the fact that interest rates dropped dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to WalletHub.

"For people willing and able to invest in a house this year, the search for a first home requires careful consideration of a number of factors. Buyers must balance what they want and need with what they can afford. Often, people begin searching for their dream homes without a realistic idea of market prices, interest rates or even their eligibility to get a mortgage," states the report.

WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 22 key indicators of market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. Our data set ranges from cost of living to real-estate taxes to property-crime rate.

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