Homeowner Sweet Spot
San Antonio named America's sweetest spot for homeownership
Though it may be tough to save for and buy a home — especially for millennials — that's exactly what you should aim for if you live in San Antonio. According to Zillow, San Antonio is the No. 1 "sweet spot" for homeownership.
A strong labor market coupled with a short Breakeven Horizon make it a winner. The Breakeven Horizon, analyzed by Zillow each quarter, refers to how long homebuyers need to stay in a home before buying it makes more financial sense than renting it. Nationally, the average wait time is one year and eight months. In San Antonio, it's only one year and four months.
The city's income growth and job market helped it nab the top spot. Atlanta, for example, has the same Breakeven Horizon, but its other stats are much lower than San Antonio's 4.1 percent income growth and 2.8 percent employment growth.
The numbers are optimistic elsewhere in Texas, as Dallas-Fort Worth has a Breakeven Horizon of one year and three months and Houston's is only two months longer. At -5.5 percent, though, DFW has the lowest income growth of all the cities analyzed, keeping it from the top 10 even though its employment growth is encouraging.
Nashville is also near the top, along with Florida's Tampa and Jacksonville. House hunters in Washington, D.C. and San Diego might want to be extra cautious, since they each clock in with a Breakeven Horizon of three years and seven months and feature low income growth.
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