8 Cali Cities Rank Worst for First-Time Home Buyers

First-Time Home Buyers Might Wanat to Think Twice Before Buying in These Cities

With a historic low of 24% of home purchases last year made by first-time buyers, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on the Best & Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers in 2025.

To determine the most favorable housing markets for first-time buyers, WalletHub took the pulse of real estate in 300 cities of varying sizes using 22 key metrics. The data set ranges from housing affordability to real-estate tax rate to property-crime rate.

Worst Cities for First-Time Home Buyers

291. San Mateo, CA
292. New Orleans, LA
293. Anchorage, AK
294. Costa Mesa, CA
295. Los Angeles, CA
296. Santa Barbara, CA
297. San Francisco, CA
298. Oakland, CA
299. Santa Monica, CA
300. Berkeley, CA

“Buying a home for the first time is a very stressful and difficult process, especially when housing prices are through the roof and interest rates have risen sharply in the past few years,” said Chip Lupo, WalletHub Analyst. “The best cities for first-time home buyers not only are affordable both in terms of buying a house and living there afterward, but they also have a lot of housing choices as well as low crime rates and good schools.”

Palm Bay, FL, is the best city for newbies It’s among the leading cities in the country when it comes to active home listings per capita and new building permits per capita, according to Lupo.

“Palm Bay has the fifth-highest millennial home-ownership rate and the third-highest home appreciation rate in the country,” he said. “Home-buyers with children will benefit from Palm Bay’s good school system.”

Key takeaways and WalletHub commentary are included below in the video.