Detroit is as Unaffordable as Denver

The Urban Institute released last week a report titled “Housing Affordability: Local and National Perspectives” with 2 key metrics. First, is the homeownership rate in every major metro city and second is what percentage of renters could afford to buy a home in each city as well. I found this fact incredibly fascinating.

For metro Denver they said our homeownership rate is 63.9% and that 25.6% of renters could afford to buy a home in metro Denver. Metro Detroit’s homeownership rate is 67.7% and only 26% of renters can afford to buy a home in Detroit. Stop and think about this—Detroit is as unaffordable for renters looking to become homeowners as Denver is. And where do people want to live? Denver!!!!

Here is the list of cities that are more unaffordable for renters looking to become homeowners—Detroit, Minneapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, Washington D.C., Atlanta and Phoenix. Would you choose one of these cities over Denver?