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May 19, 2026 / 1:46 PM EDT
/ CBS News
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Homeownership has rarely been further out of reach for most Americans, but in some midsize Rust Belt and Sun Belt cities, the math can still work.Flint, Michigan, once closely linked with the auto industry, ranks as the nation's most affordable real estate market, according to a new analysis from WalletHub. The personal finance site based its findings on 10 factors, putting the heaviest weight on the ratio of median home prices to household income and the cost per square foot.WalletHub scored each city on a 100-point scale, with higher scores reflecting greater affordability.Flint ranked highest among the 300 cities in the analysis, followed by Detroit, WalletHub said. The median home price in Flint is about $66,000, compared with $76,500 in Detroit, according to Zillow.The most unaffordable U.S. city for buying a home. That's Santa Barbara, California, where Zillow data shows the median home price is around $1.85 million.Despite pockets of affordability, the U.S. property market remains challenging for homebuyers. The so-called affordability gap — the income needed to afford the median-priced U.S. home — has widened since 2020 as mortgage rates and home prices have climbed.A buyer now needs an annual income of about $120,000 to afford a typical home, with the median sale price nationwide at about $400,000, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. In January 2020, that same buyer needed about $63,000.
