The New York City borough of Manhattan is the least affordable place for consumers making a low down payment to buy a home, according to a new report by housing and property data firm RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif.
This study ranked the most and least affordable counties in the country for low down payment borrowers. At the other end of the spectrum, Northern Ohio's Ashtabula County earned the honor of most affordable low down payment county, while Imperial County, Calif., Hernando County, Fla., Clayton County, Ga., and Lackawanna County, Pa., rounded out the top five most affordable.
Besides Manhattan, which is also known as New York County, other markets on the least affordable list were Fairfax County, Va., a wealthy suburban county outside Washington, D.C., Charleston County, S.C., Santa Clara County, Calif., and Forsyth County, Ga.
"The Ohio markets continue to provide affordable housing benefits for many boomerang and first-time buyers. The region's stability in price, and growth in jobs across the state, provides greater access for buyers to take advantage of lower down payment opportunities, as well as an increasing available inventory in new and existing communities," said Michael Mahon, president of HER Realtors, an Ohio-based firm, in a statement released with RealtyTrac's results.
RealtyTrac measured 370 counties, with a minimum population size of 100,000 to qualify for the study. Data came from April 2015 statistics which measured affordability compared to historical average, homeownership programs available in each area and down payments relative to home prices.
