Roswell Named Among Best Cities For First-Time Homebuyers

ROSWELL, GA — For new homeowners looking for their first house, as it turns out they need to look no further than Roswell.

A recent report by WalletHub ranks the best and worst cities in 2019 for new home buyers.

Buying a home for the first time is an exciting and important milestone for many Americans, the report said:

Their purchases make up a sizable chunk of the market, too. In 2018, 39% of all U.S. single-family home purchases were made by first-time buyers. The search for a first home requires careful consideration of a number of factors.

Buyers must balance what they want and need with what they can afford. Often, people begin searching for their dream homes without a realistic idea of market prices, interest rates or even their eligibility to get a mortgage.

Where a home is located is just as important as what features it has. If the neighborhood is unpleasant, it can sour the experience of a great home. Potential buyers may want to narrow their search down to an area with a good reputation before getting into housing details.

To simplify the process, WalletHub compared 300 cities of varying sizes across 27 key indicators of market attractiveness, affordability and quality of life. Our data set ranges from cost of living to real-estate taxes to property-crime rate. Read on for our findings, insight from a panel of experts and a full description of our methodology.

Overall, Roswell came in at No. 31 nationwide for the best place for new homeowners. Its total score was 62.28, affordability rank was 88, real estate market rank was 21, and quality of life rank was 151.

To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time home buyers, WalletHub compared a sample of 300 U.S. cities (varying in size) across three key dimensions: 1) Affordability, 2) Real-Estate Market and 3) Quality of Life.

WalletHub evaluated those dimensions using 27 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for first-time home buyers.

Finally, WalletHub determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample. Its sample considers only the city proper in each case and excludes cities in the surrounding metro area. Each city was categorized according to the following population-size guidelines:

• Large cities: More than 300,000 people
• Midsize cities: 150,000 to 300,000 people
• Small cities: Fewer than 150,000 people

Other Georgia cities on the overall top 100 list include Atlanta at No. 25, Columbus at No. 67 and Savannah at No. 91.

Columbus ranked No. 27 and Augusta No. 62 (No. 183 overall) for mid-size cities (150,000 to 300,000).

For small cities, Roswell ranked No. 14, Savannah No. 38, Sandy Springs No. 47 (No. 109 overall), and Athens No. 74 (No. 155 overall).

Atlanta also ranks No. 3 among large cities, behind Tampa and Colorado Springs, respectively.