See where St. Pete, Tampa rank among affordable cities for homeownership
Realty Hop released its September Housing Affordability Index.

By Chris Erickson
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Published: Aug 1, 2021

Tampa ranked as the 31st least affordable city for homeownership, according to RealtyHop’s September Housing Affordability Index.

Tampa residents would spend approximately 40.52% of their income on homeownership according to the study, which looks at the 100 largest cities in the country,

St. Petersburg fared much better, coming in at No. 54 on the list with homeownership costs of 33.84% of income. When comparing the two local cities, Tampa had both a lower median household income and a higher median home listing price than St. Pete. However, Tampa improved its affordability over the prior month, with homeownership costs decreasing 1.29%, while St. Pete grew less affordable, with an increase of 1.79%.

This figure is calculated using the median household income from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median for-sale home listing prices from RealtyHop, local property taxes and mortgage expenses.

Miami ranked as the least affordable city in Florida and the third-least affordable in the country, with estimated expenses at 82% of household income. Hialeah was the only other Florida city to rank as less affordable than Tampa, at No. 11 on the list. Orlando ranked in the middle at No. 49, while Jacksonville (No. 80) ranked as the most affordable city in the Sunshine State, with a ratio of 27.2%.

Detroit ranked as the most affordable city, followed by Wichita, Kansas, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Anchorage, Alaska and Chesapeake, Virginia.