The Most Affordable US City for Homeowners Is … Actually Pretty Hip

Antonio Brown may want to leave, but Pittsburgh, PA, has been named the most affordable city for homeowners in the developed world, according to the 15th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey — and that’s not the only title it’s been given this year.

The Steel City has also been named 2019’s Food City of the Year, according to af&co, a restaurant and hospitality consulting firm. In its awarding, the firm said, “There’s no shortage of innovation in Pittsburgh. With a booming tech scene, restaurants are also getting in on the action by pushing the boundaries while keeping food approachable.”

I can attest to this, as I once drove six hours for a famous Primanti Bros sandwich, and it certainly made up for the long and boring trip. Pittsburgh is also home to Andy Warhol (and his museum), Wiz Khalifa and a whole lot of breweries that you can tour. In general, it has a bit of Brooklyn feel … or at least what Brooklyn felt like 10 years ago, before it jumped the shark.

So how did Pittsburgh get its no. 1 affordability title? The survey looked at 309 housing markets in eight developed countries: the U.S., Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore and the U.K. It analyzed data from the third quarter of 2018 using the “mean multiple” approach — the median house price divided by the median household income.

Rochester, NY, actually tied with Pittsburgh for the most affordable U.S. city, both having a median multiple of 2.6. Oklahoma City is third (2.7), while Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland and St. Louis each have a 2.8. All nine of the “affordable” major housing markets were in the U.S.

As for most expensive, Hong Kong maintains its no. 1 unaffordable city crown for the eighth year in a row, with a rate of 20.9 (up from 19.4 last year); Vancouver was a distant second with a rate of 12.6. For the U.S., the most expensive metropolitan area was (surprise) Santa Cruz, CA, which came in fifth. San Jose, Los Angeles and San Francisco were the other American cities in the top (bottom?) 10.

So if you’re considering making a move to save a few bucks, add Pittsburgh to your list — only downside is that you’ll have to root for the Antonio-less Steelers.

You can see the rest of the most expensive list here.

Photo by Igor Oliyarnik on Unsplash