6 Arizona cities rank in top 20 of best cities for first-time home buyers

PHOENIX — Surprise, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Chandler, Peoria and Mesa all ranked in the top 20 of WalletHub’s “Best Cities for First-Time Home Buyers (2024)” study released this month.

WalletHub rated 300 cities of various sizes and compared them using 22 different factors, including market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life.

While first-time buyers made up just 32% of the market last year, according to Realtor Magazine, it’s better to be a first-time home buyer in a handful of cities in the Grand Canyon state, per WalletHub’s study.

In the overall rankings, Surprise (sixth) Gilbert (ninth) placed in the top 10, while Scottsdale (12th), Chandler (14th), Peoria (18th) and Mesa (19th) rounded out the top 20.

How the study was conducted

WalletHub’s rating system consisted of three main categories: affordability rank, real-estate market rank and quality of life rank.

A few notable subcategories were average cost of homeowner’s insurance, rent-to-price-ratio and weather.

Even though Surprise came in at No. 204 under quality of life, the west-Valley city came in at No. 4 for real-estate market rank and No. 22 for affordability rank, powering the city to sixth overall.

Yuma came in at No. 22 overall, while Phoenix was 45th, Glendale was 68th, Tempe was 85th and Tucson was 122nd, respectively.

Palm Bay, Florida was ranked first overall, as four other Florida cities (Cape Coral, Port St. Lucie, Tampa and Orlando) rounded out the top five.

Berkeley, California came in last place of the 300 cities that were ranked.

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