Waterbury, New Britain, Bridgeport and New Haven are the top four cities for affordable homes in Connecticut, according to a new survey.
HomeArea.com created the Cities in Connecticut With The Most Affordable Homes using the most recent U.S. Census data of cities with a population of 60,000 or more.
The rankings were determined by calculating the Median Multiple, the recommended metric used by the World Bank to determine housing affordability. It is the ratio of the median house price by the median gross household income.
To determine housing affordability, HomeArea.com compared local home prices with local incomes. The median multiple answers the question, “how many years would it take for the median income to pay off the median home price?”
Lower values indicate that incomes in the area are high enough to make it easier to pay off a home. Anything under 3 is considered affordable.
The Connecticut median multiple from the latest estimates is 3.7 and has fallen 1.5 percent.
Waterbury was ranked the most affordable with Median Multiple of 3.1, a decline of 3.3 from last year. The Brass City has a median home value of $150,000. The median monthly owner costs with a mortgage is $1,656.
New Britain was ranked second with a Median Multiple of of 3.6, a decline from 3.8 from the previous year. The city has a median home value of $164,400. The median monthly owner costs with a mortgage is $1,654.
Bridgeport came in third with a score of 3.9, a decrease from the previous 4.2. The Park City had a median home value of $188,000. The median monthly owner costs with a mortgage is $188,000.
New Haven was fourth with 4.4, a decrease of 7.4 percent from the previous 4.7. The Elm City had a median home value of $209,300 with a $1,946 monthly owner cost. Previously, New Haven was ranked sixth.
Danbury, which was ranked number four last year, dropped down to fifth place because of rising house prices. Its current 4.8 median multiple is higher than the previous 4.2. The median home value is $300,000 with a monthly mortgage $2,219.
Hartford was ranked sixth with a score of 5. Hartford dropped from fifth in the last ranking when it had a Median Multiple of 4.4. Median home value is $168,700 and monthly mortgage cost is $1,650.
Stamford, previously ranked eighth is now seventh. Its Median Multiple of 5.9 is lower than the previous 6. Median home value is $515,400 and monthly mortgage cost is $2,870.
Norwalk saw the largest jump in the median multiple from 4.9 to 6 – a 21.8 percent increase. Median home value is $420,200 and monthly mortgage cost is $2,720.
