NYC Is Terrible For First-Time Home Buyers, Study Finds

NEW YORK, NY — With prices often well into the millions, it's no secret buying a home in New York City is hard. But it turns out only three large American cities are worse for first-time home buyers than the Big Apple, according to a new WalletHub study.

The personal finance website ranked 300 U.S. cities for their friendliness to new buyers based on more than two dozen factors in three categories: affordability, the real estate market and quality of life.

New York City ranked 60th among the 63 cities with populations of at least 300,000 and 290th among all 300 places on the list. The city tied for the highest cost of living, according to WalletHub, which is three times the cost in the cheapest city: Laredo, Texas.

New York ranked 191st overall for housing affordability, which WalletHub measured by dividing the median house price by the median annual household income. The city's figure was 9.9, meaning the median house costs nearly 10 times the median income, according to WalletHub.

The city's buy-versus-rent "breakeven horizon" placed 270th at 56 months. That's how long it would take before buying a home becomes cheaper than renting the same home, according to the study.

New York also ranked 285th overall for the number of mortgage lenders per capita and 286th for its homeownership rate for millennials, the study found.

First-time buyers face a rougher time in just three large cities, according to WalletHub: Oakland, California; San Francisco; and Detroit.

Other cities in the Empire State didn't fare much better — the highest-ranking New York city was Buffalo, which landed at No. 231 overall. New Yorkers looking to purchase their first abode could look west to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, which topped WalletHub's overall list.

See WalletHub's full ranking here.

(Lead image: Photo from Shutterstock)