Oakland, Berkeley Ranked Worst U.S. Cities For First-Time Home Buyers
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- If you're a first-time home buyer, California may not not the place to get your feet wet.
The financial gurus at WalletHub compared 300 cities to determine their attractiveness for people looking to get a piece of the American dream -- i.e. a house. On their 2016 list of the Best and Worst Cities For First-Time Home Buyers, California literally dominates the bottom third. Out of the 100 lowest ranking cities, 68 of them are in California. No region is spared -- there are cities in Northern, Central and Southern California.
Berkeley and Oakland stand out in the bottom five, ranking 297 and 298 respectively. That's bad news for Bay Area buyers trying to avoid the high prices of San Francisco and the South Bay, and think these East Bay cities have better buys.
San Francisco actually ranked higher, coming in at 254.
The study looked at 19 key metrics -- from affordability and quality of life, to crime rates and weather.
The only cities that fared worse than Oakland and Berkeley were Miami Beach, Florida (299) and Newark, New Jersey (300).
Californians may balk when they find out where their first-time home buying dollars would be best spent according to WalletHub.
The number one city was Overland Park, Kansas.
