San Diego is the eighth least affordable large city for homebuyers when all costs of home ownership are considered, according to a new report by WalletHub.
The Washington, DC-based financial services company ranked cities on housing affordability, maintenance costs, real estate taxes and the chance for appreciation to arrive at the ranking.
Los Angeles was the most expensive among cities with over 300,000 population, followed by New York and San Francisco. Detroit and Pittsburgh were the two most affordable large cities.
Many of the most expensive cities of all sizes were in California, while the bargains in terms of housing affordability were to be found in the Midwest and South.
Among midsize cities, with 100,000 to 300,000 people, Glendale, Irvine and Huntington Beach were the most expensive. And for cities under 100,000, Santa Barbara and Berkeley will cost the most.
Kirk McClure, a professor of urban planning at the University of Kansas, said it’s not surprising that large and growing cities are less affordable.
“The easy prediction is that markets with strong job growth will continue to see strong housing price increases,” he said in response to the WalletHub ranking.
“The markets with strong job growth are larger — New York, Boston, Washington, DC, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. Smaller markets continue to have trouble as they compete with these larger, hotter markets for jobs and talent.”