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Athens Ranking on 2021 List of Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Homebuyers

WalletHub.com

Athens is in the middle of the pack when it comes to the best cities for new home purchases for first-time buyers. Athens comes in at 153 out of 300 cities on WalletHub’s listof 2021’s Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers. Analyst Jill Gonzalez.

“Well we looked basically at three different things, affordability, the real estate market and quality of life,” according to Gonzalez. “And it did best in terms of affordability, that’s where it ranked 114. It could do better in term of of its actual real estate market, where it ranked 217. That’s where Athens could do better.”

Those categories include, home prices compared to income, cost of homeowners’ insurance, taxes, how many days on the market, numbers of foreclosures…etc.

The covid-19 pandemic had a significant impact on purchases. In 2020, some 40 percent of home purchases were made by first-time buyers, about 50 percent more than the previous year.

“People wanted to one, branch out and keep more space since they were at home all day and interest rates dropped dramatically during the pandemic.”

Gonzalez with the high demand, it is currently a seller’s market; with homes on the market for less time and going for higher than list prices. The best-ranked city on the list: Chesapeake, Virginia.