AUSTIN, TX — For young Americans still hoping to crack the housing market, Realtor.com’s latest ranking delivers a surprising message: opportunity has not vanished, but it has shifted east.
The company’s Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers in 2026 places Rochester, New York, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Granite City, Illinois at the top of a list that favors affordability, livability, and economic stability over flashier, high-priced metros. In a housing landscape dominated by high mortgage rates and stubbornly elevated prices, the ranking highlights pockets where buying a first home remains financially realistic.
Rochester takes the top spot, followed by Harrisburg and Granite City, with Birmingham, Alabama; North Little Rock, Arkansas; Syracuse, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Garfield Heights, Ohio rounding out the top 10.
“The markets that rise to the top in 2026 pair comparatively attainable forecasted home prices with strong local amenities and a supportive economic backdrop,” said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com. “For first-time buyers, that combination can mean a more manageable path to homeownership, without giving up the neighborhood features that make a place feel like home.”
The numbers behind the ranking show just how rare that balance has become. Using a 30-year fixed mortgage at a 6.25% rate with a 10% down payment, Realtor.com found that in all 10 of the top markets, the median-priced home can be purchased by a typical 25- to 34-year-old without exceeding the widely used 30% of income affordability threshold. Across more than 10,000 places studied nationwide, only 35.2% met that standard.
That gap explains why first-time buyers are being pushed into a narrower slice of the country. For the second year in a row, no Western market made the top 10, a reflection of home prices that far outstrip local incomes and more muted price-growth prospects as inventory has rebounded faster in that region. Instead, the list is dominated by inland cities in the eastern half of the United States, where home prices remain lower and economic fundamentals more supportive.
Another surprise is where many of the best values are found. Six of the top 10 are principal cities, not far-flung suburbs. Because Realtor.com’s methodology weighs amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants, child care, nightlife, and commute times, central cities often score better than suburban alternatives that may be cheaper but less convenient.
Each of the 10 markets also sits below both the national median listing price and the median for its surrounding metro area, making them affordable pockets within relatively affordable regions. Granite City stands out most sharply, with prices nearly 60% lower than the broader St. Louis metro, while Pittsburgh is only slightly cheaper than its metro average but still makes the cut because of income levels and amenities.
“Truly affordable markets have become harder to find, especially for younger households,” said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com. “The places that rise to the top in this ranking are notable precisely because they still offer a viable path to ownership for first-time buyers.”
The full ranking and methodology are based on Realtor.com listing data from December 2024 through November 2025, combined with Census-based income and commute estimates, Moody’s Analytics unemployment forecasts, and neighborhood amenity scores from Local Logic. Together, they paint a picture of a housing market where the door to homeownership is still open, but only in the right places, and increasingly far from the nation’s most expensive coasts.
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