10 trendiest, but still affordable, cities

From the article by Yuqing Pan on realtor.com:

Our data team mixed up a large batch of kale smoothies and set out to find the next hipster meccas sprouting up across the U.S. We took a deep dive into the 500 largest cities in the country in search of those that combine a fun, young, culture-rich urban experience with affordability for the long haul.

Criteria for the list included: Number of foodie hot spots, bike shops, yoga studios, cultural outlets, an increase in the population of 25- to 34-year-olds from 2013 to 2014, and an increase in the percentage of people shopping for a home on realtor.com.

After this, realtor.com ran the acceptable cities through an affordability check.  

This is what was left.

Here are the 10 trendiest U.S. cities that you can still afford to live in:

10. Charleston, South Carolina

Median home price: $325, 200

9. New Orleans, Louisiana   

Median home price: $245,000

8. St. Louis, Missouri

Median home price: $145,000

7. Cincinnati, Ohio

Median home price: $138,000

6. Ann Arbor, Michigan

Median home price: $349,450

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

Median home price: $251,000

4. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Median home price: $149,900

3. Asheville, North Carolina

Median home price: $350,000

2. Richmond, Virginia

Median home price: $170,000

1. Salt Lake City, Utah

Median home price: $355,000

Source: realtor.com

Top Ten Cities for Real Estate Steals - Saint Louis nowhere on top 10 list

 U.S. News turned to Moody's Economy.com. The economics firm provided average and quarterly price-to-income data for each of the nation's 384 distinct metropolitan statistical areas. By comparing the most recent figures with longer-term averages, they were able to compile a list of 10 cities for real estate steals.

1. Memphis: Higher home values pushed the price-to-income ratio in Memphis to nearly 5 in the first quarter of 2006--sharply above its 2.13 average for the 15 years ending in 2003.


2. Salinas, Calif.:  homes in Salinas are expected to become even cheaper this year as foreclosures exert additional downward pressure on prices

3. Medford, Ore.:  Because its timber industry is crucial to the local economy--wood-processing jobs represent at least a quarter of all manufacturing positions--the collapse of the new-home building market triggered higher unemployment in the area.

4. Washington:  the price-to-income ratio of the Washington area fell to 1.12 through the third quarter of 2009.

5. Mobile, Ala.:\ home prices in Mobile, Ala., have dropped about 7 percent in recent years.

6. Las Cruces, N.M.: The housing market in Las Cruces, N.M., has become increasingly undervalued in recent years when compared with historical averages.

7. Fayetteville, N.C.: The housing market in the military town of Fayetteville, N.C., avoided wild price swings that devastated other parts of the country. Rather than surging, home prices remained largely flat for most of the previous decade. Today, house prices in Fayetteville remain undervalued when compared with longer-term averages.

8. Phoenix: After jumping more than 85 percent from 2002 to 2006, home prices in the Phoenix area have crashed by 52 percent in recent years.

9. Fort Worth/Arlington, Texas: In recent years, home prices in the Fort Worthand Arlington, Texas, area have also grown increasingly undervalued when compared with longer-term averages. The area's price-to-income ratio fell from 3.95 in the fourth quarter of 2005 to 1.89 through the third quarter of 2009.

10. Cincinnati: Home prices in Cincinnati have remained relatively affordable throughout the nation's recent boom-and-bust cycle.