Dive Brief:

• First-time homebuyers prefer markets with low volatility and access to affordable housing, according to a recent survey by SmartAsset that ranked U.S. cities with populations greater than 300,000 based on factors such as loan funding rates, housing cost per square foot, market volatility and home price trends.

• Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City and Omaha, NE, took the top three spots. They were followed by Indianapolis; Tulsa, OK; San Antonio, TX; Houston; Colorado Springs, CO; Fort Worth, TX; and Louisville, KY.

• Texas led among the full list, with seven cities in that state making the top 25 and three cracking the top 10 due to their relatively stable markets and high volume of mortgage lenders.

Dive Insight:

Housing markets in the Midwest are seeing renewed attention from buyers and employers. Millennials, especially, are turning the tide for the Midwest as more opt to stay local or relocate to the area. Within the region, the cohort accounts for 42% of homebuyers, compared to 38% nationally, with the most active markets in Madison, WI; Columbus, OH; Omaha, NE; Des Moines, IA; and Minneapolis, Realtor.com Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke told Construction Dive last year. 

Texas, too, is experiencing an uptick in residential and corporate migration for its low cost of living and geographically central location. Mirrored by a recent spate of corporate relocations to Chicago, the Dallas market has seen companies like Toyota and Jacobs Engineering move their headquarters from Southern California to the region, with lower housing costs cited as one potential motivator.

Growing interest in that state's relatively low cost of living is spurring activity there. The state posted record-high home prices and sales for the second-straight year in 2016, according to the Texas Association of Realtors, while those homes spent two fewer days on the market last year than they did in 2015.

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