WalletHub Ranks Flint Michigan Most Affordable U.S. Housing Market

U.S. housing market among 300 cities examined. The personal finance site scored cities on ten factors, with the heaviest weight given to the ratio of median home prices to household income and cost per square foot. Flint received the highest score, followed by Detroit.

Median home prices stand at about $66,000 in Flint and $76,500 in Detroit, according to Zillow data cited in the analysis. 85 million. Nationwide, a buyer now needs an annual income of about $120,000 to afford the typical home priced at about $400,000, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta reported. In January 2020, the same buyer needed about $63,000.

An April analysis of IRS tax data by the Tax Foundation found millions of Americans moving from higher-tax states such as California and New York to lower-tax states including Texas, Florida, and North Carolina. None of those destination states placed cities among WalletHub's ten most affordable housing markets.

The Tax Foundation stated that tax differentials are often one of several factors people consider when deciding where to move. Hainan Sheng, assistant professor of real estate at Virginia Tech, told WalletHub that older Americans are more likely than younger people to be motivated by tax considerations when relocating.

WalletHub noted that Flint's water supply has met EPA standards for six years following the 2014 water crisis.