Iowa Is Home To One Of The Most Affordable Small Cities to Buy a New Home

The home market is still on fire.  Even with interest rates that are more than double from historic lows just 4 years ago, people are looking to buy a home.

With the market being so hot, prices are even hotter.  Home prices nationally have risen by about 47% since 2020.  But you can still find affordable homes out there.  And there is one Iowa city that tops the list of most affordable cities to buy a home.

It's Not Just Home Prices That Make A City Affordable

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo says, “When deciding where to buy a home, home prices alone aren’t a good enough indicator of how affordable things will be. You also have to consider how the average price compares to a typical income in the area, plus things like the overall cost of living and the costs of maintenance and taxes. The most affordable cities, like Flint, MI, Detroit, and Pittsburgh, PA, have low costs across several of these different metrics.”

While Detroit is the most affordable large city to buy a home in America, Flint is the most affordable small city.  But we have one that is ranked in the top 5 right here in Iowa.

Davenport, Iowa, Is The 5th Most Affordable City To Buy A Home

Right there on the banks of the Mississippi River, Davenport is the 5th most affordable city to buy a home.

The factors used in this study:

• Housing affordability
• Maintenance affordability
• Average cost of homeowner's insurance
• Cost of living
• Cost per square foot
• Real estate tax rate
• Rent-to-price ratio
• Median home price appreciation
• Quarterly active listings per capita
• Vacancy rate

So you can see it's more than just the price you see on the real estate app.  There are a lot of factors used to show that Davenport is an affordable place to buy a home.

Not only is it ranked 5th in the country for small towns, but Davenport is ranked 16th overall when including the large and mid-sized cities.

You can see the full study here.