The top five cities in the ranking have an average total score of 64.5 out of 100.

The top five lenders have a combined retail home loan volume of more than $29 billion at the end of Q2 2023.

The top three cities have an average payback period of just over 21 months on a 20% down payment.

The bottom three cities have an average payback period on a 20% down payment of more than 78 months.

Gen Z homebuyers make up a 21.26% share of purchase requests in the top five metropolitan areas.

The bottom five metropolitan areas have an average share of mortgage purchase requests from Gen Z homebuyers of 9.29%.

Ransomware attacks are an increasingly significant threat to the home finance industry.

BofA's fintech accelerator launch and Guaranteed Rate's new insurance offering via a brokerage spinoff are among the latest fintech stories.

The top five states have an average effective real-estate tax rate of 2.17%.

The top six states have an average effective real-estate tax rate of 0.48%.