8 of the best housing markets for first-time home buyers

August 20, 2021 2:59 PM

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Buying a home for the first time can be stressful and intimidating. It requires carefully considering a number of factors, including interest rates, market prices, mortgage types and qualifying.

The location where a first-time home buyer wants to live is almost just as important as what features the neighborhood has. WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 22 key indicators of market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. The data set also spans cost of living to real-estate taxes to property-crime rate.

Below are 8 of the top cities for first-time home buyers.

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Chesapeake, Virginia

Median home price: $257,600

Local professional: Cary Reines, executive vice president at Embrace Home Loans

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"Chesapeake Bay would be a good place to live as a first time home-buyer because it offers opportunity for larger land opportunities [since] they're a little further out which, is a good value for a first time home-buyer."

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Gilbert, Arizona

Median home price: $435,000

Local professional: Derek Evans, senior vice president at Fairway Independent Mortgage

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"Gilbert still is moderately priced, much more realistic than, say Scottsdale or North Phoenix. I moved down to Gilbert as a first-time home buyer in 2009 and obviously [it] has substantially grown since then. Just lots of building activity going on right now and the growth potential is amazing.

"What attracted me and what may even be more prevalent now is it has some of the best schools in the state and great youth sports programs, which is a great thing for a young family, or people looking to start a family. And I believe it's typically always in the top 10 safest cities in the country. I think the combination of those is fantastic. We love the fact there's a ton of small businesses here as well that you can support, which makes it extremely attractive."

Cape Coral, Florida

Median home price: $243,100

Local professional: Yvette Clermont, branch manager and mortgage consultant at Inlanta Mortgage

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"We have people flocking to Florida right now, which is a great problem to have, but some of the areas, especially along the gulf coast can be a little more expensive. So Cape Coral is a really great community to offer something for everyone. It's more reasonable for first-time home buyers, because a lot of the communities, like Sarasota, Venice and Marco Island are quite expensive.

"Many people flocked to Florida for the promise of year-round sunshine and areas those buyers consider are terrific. But Cape Coral has them beat and not only offers sunshine but a thriving community with everything one could ask for. The waterways are terrific for boating enthusiasts, it has the young vibe of a college town with Florida Gulf Coast University, places to eat and meet friends, it’s great for biking and runners with friendly neighborhoods, and other sports like kayaking and enjoying the eco-preserve. And of course terrific beaches."

Hampton, Virginia

Median home price: $211,300

Local professional: Cary Reines, executive vice president at Embrace Home Loans

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"Hampton is appealing for tourism home buyers. It offers a widely diversified population, lending itself to rich culture, social, dining and entertainment areas."

Peoria, Arizona

Median home price: $597,000

Local professional: Kyle Fischer, senior vice president at Fairway Independent Mortgage

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"One thing that attracts buyers to those areas is the affordability. The housing and the construction there is newer construction and had master-planned communities tailored toward families. They have parks, playgrounds, pools, the schools are there and basically surrounded a family community environment."

"Very specific to Peoria is location and proximity to all the other amenities throughout the valley. It's one of the suburbs outside of Phoenix. I don't think that there's like one specific thing that people look for in Peoria to move there, there's restaurants, the advanced spring training sports complex, and all the amenities for families that make it great."

Virginia Beach, Virginia

Median home price: $316,000

Local professional: Cary Reines, executive vice president at Embrace Home Loans

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"Virginia Beach is the largest city in the state. It has a lot of cachet, a lot of interest from the younger people, and the Atlantic Ocean is right there. And maybe the number one thing is a large military presence that brings many young people to the area.

"Widely diversified population, rich culture and entertainment. [The close] proximity to the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean drives a lot of young people there for water and beach activities."

Norfolk, Virginia

Median home price: $187,600

Local professional: Cary Reines, executive vice president at Embrace Home Loans

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"For a first-time home buyer, there is a higher education presence through Old Dominion University, with a 24,000-person student body. A lot of young people as well as faculty moving in and out. Being a university town, the area often lends itself to first-time home buyer opportunities given the demographic profile.

"[There's] a huge military presence, and it's a big part of the culture there. There's the Norfolk Naval [Station] and the Oceania Naval Air Station and [they] attract a lot of young people, many of whom want to become homeowners. Naturally, the military has access and availability to the privilege of VA loans, federal administration loans, which are no money down."

Surprise, Arizona

Median home price: $449,450

Local professional: Mark Sheck, Branch Manager at Cherry Creek Mortgage

What unique features of your market make it a particularly good place for a first-time buyer to find a home?

"While the general price point has moved up here in Arizona, the area of Surprise is still probably a little bit more affordable than other parts of the valley and Maricopa County. A lower price point is obviously a big reason why it's good for first-time home buyers.

"Surprise is what I'm going to refer to [as] a newer area. It really started to grow with homes in the mid-2000s. So the schools, restaurants and companies moving in are newer, giving more amenities for people in Surprise."