This State Has Two Of The Most Undervalued Cities In The U.S.

Finding affordable properties for sale can seem challenging for those looking to buy a home. Current market conditions make it more difficult than ever to find opportunities to buy affordably, especially with inflation up and mortgage interest rates climbing. In 2022, the National Association of Realtors shared that 98% of metro areas in the U.S. saw home prices increase during the third quarter of the year. An estimated 46% of those markets saw home values rise more than 10%. The report named locations such as the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara market, Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale market, and the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue market as some of the most expensive in the country.

This makes it much more difficult for people to buy a home in these real estate markets. Yet, more recent data now shows that some areas in the U.S. are actually still very affordable when considering monthly mortgage payments to income. Some cities, including two metro areas in one state, are showing remarkable resilience in remaining competitively priced. For those with the flexibility to buy a home anywhere, it may pay to consider these metro areas.

For those looking for homes priced lower and even considered undervalued, look to Ohio as one of the best places to live. Data shared by U.S. News and World Report shows that two of the largest markets where homes for sale remain undervalued are Cleveland and Cincinnati. In these two cities, along with Detroit, St. Louis, and Philadelphia, the mortgage payment-to-income ratio, a tool used to determine how affordable monthly payments are compared to income, was under 24%. For reference, The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development says the national average for payment-to-income stands much higher at 36.6%.

The data shows that the payment-to-income ratio in the Cleveland-Elyria metro market was 18.9%, and the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN metro market stood at 23.6%. Also notable is that Cleveland also ranks number 3 in the top 5 most undervalued cities in the homes for rent category, with a rent-to-income of 25.2%, under the national median of 36%. Cincinnati ranks number 10 on that list, with a rent-to-income ratio of 27.4%.