This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Salt Lake City ranks well nationally as a favorable housing market for first-time buyers, according to the personal-finance website WalletHub.
Utah's capital was 11th among 300 U.S. cities and placed fourth among midsize cities based on metrics relevant to those buying a first home— including affordability, cost of living, availability of jobs, real-estate taxes, energy costs, property-crime rates and 13 other measures.
The Kentucky cities of Lexington and Louisville led the site's rankings of large cities friendliest to first-time buyers; Denver finished fifth on that list.
Overland Park in Kansas; Boise, Idaho; and Lincoln, Nebraska, topped midsize cities, with Salt Lake City fourth.
Greeley and Thornton in Colorado and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, were the best-ranked small cities.
First-time homebuyers are considered an important indicator of the future health of housing markets and the economy as a whole.
Due to factors ranging from tighter lending standards, wage stagnation and higher levels of student debt, Americans are increasingly delaying household formation — and the home purchase that typically goes with it.
In 2015, nearly a third of all buyers of primary residences were first-timers, down from a historical average of about 40 percent, according to the National Association of Realtors.
In a separate 2015 study by WalletHub, Salt Lake City ranked 43rd among 150 U.S. cities for its economic progress since the Great Recession, based on 17 economic indicators. Lubbock, Texas, and Denver topped that tally.
Tony Semerad