Realtor.com® Names the Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers in 2026

Rhea-AI Summary

Realtor.com (NWS) released its Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers 2026 ranking, naming Rochester, NY; Harrisburg, PA; and Granite City, IL as the top three markets.

The report highlights affordability, inventory, local amenities and metro forecasts, noting all 10 featured places have median listing prices affordable to median 25–34-year-old earners under a 30% payment-share rule (assumes 6.25% mortgage, 30-year, 10% down). Only 35.2% of evaluated places meet that affordability standard and the typical U.S. household needs seven years to save for a down payment.

Positive

• All 10 featured markets affordable under 30% payment-share
• Rochester median listing price $139,900
• Granite City median listing price $119,000
• Pittsburgh forecasted 25–34 homeowner share 23.5%

Negative

• Only 35.2% of places meet the 30% affordability standard
• Typical U.S. household needs 7 years to save for a down payment
• West absent from the top 10 due to higher prices and incomes mismatch

Key Figures

Affordable markets share 35.2% Portion of >10,000 places where median home is affordable at 30% income rule

Years to save 7 years Time for typical U.S. household to save a down payment in 2025

Affordability rule 30% Payment share of income threshold used for affordability in the study

Mortgage rate assumption 6.25% Assumed rate for 30-year fixed with 10% down in affordability estimates

Inventory filter 500 homes Minimum homes for sale required for places included in ranking

Rochester price $139,900 12-month ending Nov 2025 median listing price, Rochester, N.Y.

Granite City ratio 1.9 2025 price to income ratio for Granite City, Ill.

St. Louis Park score 7.7 / 10 2025 first-time homebuyer location score, St. Louis Park, Minn.

Market Reality Check

$30.26 Last Close

Volume Volume 723,470 is below the 20-day average of 974,713 (relative volume 0.74). normal

Technical Shares trade below the 200-day MA, with price $30.10 vs 200-day MA $31.68.

Peers on Argus

Within the broader entertainment/publishing peer set, NWSA is up 1.34% and FOXA up 0.81%, while TKO, WMG and ROKU show declines, pointing to mixed, stock-specific moves rather than a unified sector trend tied to this Realtor.com report.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
2025-12-29	Housing affordability study	Negative	-0.2%	Report on long timelines needed for typical U.S. down payment savings.
2025-12-23	PropTech event launch	Positive	+0.4%	Announcement of PropTech Startup Showdown at SXSW with cash prize.
2025-12-22	Luxury housing report	Neutral	+0.3%	Mixed trends in U.S. luxury home thresholds and days on market.
2025-12-18	Flipped homes analysis	Negative	+0.5%	Analysis showing weaker pricing power and returns for flipped homes.
2025-12-16	Rent affordability report	Neutral	+0.7%	Rental affordability improves modestly but remains pressured across major metros.

Pattern Detected

Recent Realtor.com data-heavy releases have generally coincided with small, mixed single-day moves, with mostly aligned reactions and one divergence when highlighting weaker housing dynamics.

Recent Company History

Over the last several weeks, News Corp has released a series of Realtor.com-focused housing and rental reports, plus a PropTech startup initiative. Prior items covered down-payment timelines, luxury home trends, flipped-home performance, and rental affordability, with modest positive or slightly negative price reactions within 24 hours. Today’s ranking of the best markets for first-time homebuyers continues this theme of granular housing data and affordability analysis, extending the company’s role as a key provider of U.S. real estate insights.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement showcases Realtor.com’s analytic depth by ranking the top 10 markets for first-time homebuyers using metrics such as price-to-income ratios, inventory per 1,000 households, commute times and location scores. It extends a recent series of News Corp housing and rental studies that focus on affordability constraints and local variation. Investors tracking this business line may watch how such reports support traffic, data products, and partnerships in a housing market where true affordability remains limited.

Key Terms

census-designated place regulatory

"reported at the Census-Designated Place level. The population, household count..."

A census-designated place (CDP) is a populated area identified by the national census bureau for counting and statistical purposes that looks and feels like a town or neighborhood but is not an incorporated city with its own municipal government. For investors, CDPs matter because they provide consistent local population, income, and housing data used to size markets, forecast demand, evaluate site locations and compare areas—think of a CDP as a labeled neighborhood on a market map.

location intelligence technical

"Local Logic is a leading location intelligence company using over 100 billion..."

Location intelligence is the use of geographic and place-based data—like customer addresses, store locations, foot traffic, and regional demographics—combined with maps to reveal patterns and trends. For investors, it helps predict where sales, costs, or risks are likely to rise or fall (think of it as a heat map that shows where a business is winning or struggling), informing decisions about store openings, supply chains, market expansion, and risk exposure.

percentile segmentation technical

"Data reflect Realtor.com listing inventories... and use percentile segmentation..."

Percentile segmentation is the practice of ranking items—such as customers, products, funds, or stocks—and dividing them into groups based on their position in that ranking (for example, top 10%, middle 50%, bottom 25%). Think of it like class ranks that split students into tiers so you can quickly see who’s leading or lagging. For investors, it helps compare relative performance, spot high- or low-performing assets, and target decisions or risk controls where they’ll have the most impact.

forward-looking statements regulatory

"materials contain forward-looking statements about its intent to repurchase shares..."

Forward-looking statements are predictions or plans that companies share about what they expect to happen in the future, like estimating sales or profits. They matter because they help investors understand a company's outlook, but since they are based on guesses and assumptions, they can sometimes be wrong.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

Affordable prices, strong local amenities, and steady economic backdrops put Rochester, Harrisburg and Granite City at the top of this year's list

AUSTIN, Texas, Jan. 7, 2026  /PRNewswire/ -- Realtor.com^® today released The Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers in 2026, identifying the top places where young Americans can put down roots with a mix of affordability, abundant for-sale inventory, local amenities and solid metro-level housing forecasts and economic outlooks. This year's ranking highlights a truth for many first-time buyers: the best opportunities are often found in markets that balance attainable home prices with everyday livability. In 2026 that balance is concentrated in the eastern half of the country.

The top 10 markets for first-time homebuyers in 2026, in rank order, are: 1) Rochester, N.Y. 2) Harrisburg, Pa. 3) Granite City, Ill. 4) Birmingham, Ala. 5) North Little Rock, Ark. 6) Syracuse, N.Y. 7) Baltimore, Md. 8) St. Louis Park, Minn. 9) Pittsburgh, Pa. 10) Garfield Heights, Ohio.

"Buying your first home is one of the biggest financial and lifestyle decisions you'll make, and where you buy can not only influence how soon you can take that step, it can shape the tradeoffs that homebuying requires," said Danielle Hale, chief economist at Realtor.com^®. "The markets that rise to the top in 2026 pair comparatively attainable forecasted home prices with strong local amenities and a supportive economic backdrop. For first-time buyers, that combination can mean a more manageable path to homeownership. All without giving up the neighborhood features that make a place feel like home."

First-time buyers can still find affordability, but it's the exception, not the norm
While renting has become more affordable in many markets and the path to homeownership remains challenging amid elevated home prices and mortgage rates, the places that rank highest in this year's analysis tend to offer a rare affordability advantage: in all 10 featured markets, the median-priced listed home is affordable to the median-earning 25- to 34-year-old under the 30% "payment share of income" rule, assuming a 6.25% mortgage rate, a 30-year fixed mortgage and a 10% down payment.

Across the broader universe of more than ten thousand places evaluated, affordability is harder to come by. Only 35.2% of places in the analysis meet that 30% affordability standard at local median prices and incomes. That challenge is underscored by the fact that, even after recent improvements, the typical U.S. household still needs seven years to save for a down payment, roughly double the pre-pandemic averages.

Familiar places return and the geography stays decidedly east
Four markets from last year's 2025 Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers ranking remain in the top 10 for 2026, underscoring the staying power of markets that consistently offer strong amenities and affordability relative to nearby alternatives. Rochester and Harrisburg swap the top two spots, while North Little Rock rises and Baltimore climbs within the list. Meanwhile, several Florida markets that appeared last year fell out of the top 10, reflecting softer metro-level price and sales projections in the annual forecast.

For the second year in a row, the West is absent from the top 10, driven in part by higher home prices that aren't matched by proportionately higher local incomes, alongside stronger post-pandemic inventory recovery that can temper appreciation expectations. With the exception of Baltimore, this year's top markets are located in the eastern half of the country but not on the coast, offering first-time buyers a blend of attainable home prices and livability.

Urban advantages show up in the 2026 list
A common assumption is that first-time buyers must look to the suburbs or the outskirts to find an affordable home. The 2026 ranking challenges that narrative: six of the 10 featured places are the principal city of their metro. Because the methodology accounts for amenities such as shopping, day care, restaurants, grocery stores and nightlife — as well as commute times — centrally located markets can outperform suburban peers by offering more "everyday convenience" without requiring a tradeoff on price.

Affordable pockets in otherwise pricier regions
Each of the 10 featured markets has a median listing price below the national median and below its metro median, reinforcing that these are affordable pockets within relatively attainable metros. Price gaps vary widely, from Pittsburgh, where the median price is only slightly below the metro median, to Granite City, where prices are far lower than the broader St. Louis metro.

"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."

Place-Based Ranking Metrics

Rank	Place Name	Region	2026 Forecasted 25- to 34-Year-Old Homeowner Share of Households	12 Month Ending November 2025 Inventory per 1,000 Household	12 Month Ending November 2025 Median Listing Price	12 Month Ending November 2025 Price to Income Ratio	2026 Forecasted Average Travel Time to Work (Minutes)	2025 First-Time Homebuyer Location Score (out of 10)
1	Rochester, N.Y.	Northeast	21.3 %	23.0	$139,900	2.9	21	9.3
2	Harrisburg, Pa.	Northeast	19.9 %	37.9	$151,999	3.0	23	9.3
3	Granite City, Ill.	Midwest	13.0 %	47.8	$119,000	1.9	25	7.1
4	Birmingham, Ala.	South	18.9 %	43.5	$148,950	3.1	24	6.8
5	North Little Rock, Ark.	South	17.4 %	39.2	$170,000	3.2	23	6.7
6	Syracuse, N.Y.	Northeast	20.4 %	21.0	$169,900	3.3	20	8.8
7	Baltimore, Md.	South	19.1 %	52.6	$223,900	3.6	31	9.0
8	St. Louis Park, Minn.	Midwest	25.2 %	42.4	$375,000	3.8	22	7.7
9	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Northeast	23.5 %	33.7	$249,000	3.5	25	9.1
10	Garfield Heights, Ohio	Midwest	12.4 %	50.2	$140,000	2.6	24	8.0

How affordable are these markets for young buyers?
Assuming a 6.25% mortgage rate, 10% down, and a 30-year fixed mortgage, here is the estimated share of income a 25- to 34-year-old median earner would spend on the median listed home:

Market Affordability

Place Name	Median Listing Price	25-to-34-Year-Old Median Income	Share of Income Spent on Mortgage Payment
Rochester, N.Y.	$139,900	$48,617	19.1 %
Harrisburg, Pa.	$151,999	$51,285	19.7 %
Granite City, Ill.	$119,000	$62,621	12.6 %
Birmingham, Ala.	$148,950	$47,647	20.8 %
North Little Rock, Ark.	$170,000	$53,258	21.2 %
Syracuse, N.Y.	$169,900	$51,436	22.0 %
Baltimore, Md.	$223,900	$62,982	23.6 %
St. Louis Park, Minn.	$375,000	$98,036	25.4 %
Pittsburgh, Pa.	$249,000	$70,226	23.6 %
Garfield Heights, Ohio	$140,000	$54,007	17.2 %

Methodology
This year, the candidate list of places was filtered to expose only areas with at least 500 homes for sale. The inventory of homes for sale and local median listing prices are from Realtor.com^® December 2024 to November 2025 listing data and are reported at the Census-Designated Place level. The population, household count, household income, and average commute time data were sourced from 2025 and 2026 Claritas estimates based on U.S. Census Bureau data. Population and household count numbers, household incomes, and average commute times are at the city/place level. The stated forecasted unemployment rates are Moody's Analytics projections of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics for each city/place's surrounding metro area. Location scores for each place were aggregated from property-level assessments made by Local Logic in the third quarter of 2025 pertaining to the availability of shopping, day cares, restaurants, grocery stores, and nightlife near each known property in the place.

Local Logic is a leading location intelligence company using over 100 billion data points to power smarter real estate decisions. Trusted by 50 million users each month across 8,000-plus websites, Local Logic helps consumers, investors, and governments optimize neighborhoods, developments, and cities. Learn more at locallogic.co.

Affordability estimates are based on mortgage payments before taxes and insurance, assuming a 10% down payment and a 6.25% mortgage rate. The 2026 sales and price forecasts are  Realtor.com^® projections for each city/place's surrounding metro area as detailed in our 2026 Housing Forecast and Top Housing Markets for 2026 reports.

About Realtor.com^®
Realtor.com^® pioneered online real estate and has been at the forefront for over 25 years, connecting buyers, sellers, and renters with trusted insights, professional guidance and powerful tools to help them find their perfect home. Recognized as the No. 1 site trusted by real estate professionals, Realtor.com^® is a valued partner, delivering consumer connections and a robust suite of marketing tools to support business growth. Realtor.com^® is operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV] subsidiary Move, Inc.

Media contact: Emily Do, press@realtor.com

 

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/realtorcom-names-the-best-markets-for-first-time-homebuyers-in-2026-302654089.html

SOURCE Realtor.com

FAQ

What markets did Realtor.com rank as best for first-time homebuyers in 2026 (NWS)?

The top three are Rochester, NY; Harrisburg, PA; and Granite City, IL, with a full top 10 list published.

How did Realtor.com define affordability for first-time buyers in the 2026 NWS report?

Affordability used a 30% payment-share threshold, assuming a 6.25% mortgage rate, 30-year fixed term, and 10% down payment.

Are the 2026 top markets affordable to 25–34-year-old median earners (NWS)?

Yes — Realtor.com found all 10 featured places are affordable to median 25–34-year-old earners under the 30% rule.

What share of evaluated places met affordability in Realtor.com's 2026 analysis (NWS)?

Only 35.2% of the more than 10,000 places evaluated met the 30% affordability standard.

Which top-ranked market had the lowest median listing price in the 2026 NWS report?

Granite City, IL had the lowest median listing price at $119,000.

How long did Realtor.com say it takes the typical U.S. household to save for a down payment (NWS)?

The analysis states the typical U.S. household needs about seven years to save for a down payment.