Surprise! These Are the 10 Best Markets for First-Time Homebuyers in 2025

Real estate experts have already offered several predictions for what home buying will look like in 2025. While there are some promising signs — such as a more balanced housing market — there are still significant challenges ahead. Interest rates are expected to remain above 6% throughout the year, and home prices are likely to stay high, both of which continue to present major hurdles for first-time buyers hoping to enter the market.

In fact, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) reports that the share of first-time buyers dropped to just 24% in 2024, down from 32% in 2023. This marks the lowest share on record since NAR began tracking this data in 1982. Also, the median age of first-time buyers has risen from 35 to 38 in just the past year.

These trends underscore the challenges faced by those venturing into today’s market for the first time. Given the challenges, Realtor.com’s recent list of the best markets for first-time homebuyers in 2025 takes on even greater significance. 

This year, the best place to buy a home in the U.S. for first-time buyers is Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where the median home price is $140,000, according to Realtor.com. The capital of Pennsylvania and located on the scenic Susquehanna River, Harrisburg boasts some hip amenities, like The Millworks, a former city mill that’s home to a brewery, rooftop biergarten, local restaurant, art gallery, and artist studios.

Overall, though, the Mid-Atlantic region and Florida tend to be the best places to kick-start a homeownership journey in 2025, with cities from these locales leading Realtor.com’s list. 

Ultimately, choosing the best place to buy a starter home comes down to what’s important for individual buyers, but this list of places can be used as a good jumping-off point.

For this year’s list, Realtor.com highlighted places that offer opportunities for first timers in terms of the cost of housing, availability of homes for sale, and quality of the location among many factors.  

Here are the top 10 home markets for first-time buyers and median list prices, which were recorded in November 2024, according to Realtor.com: 

1. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Median list price: $140,000
2. Rochester, New York. Median list price: $129,900
3. Villas, Florida. Median list price: $236,950
4. Lauderdale Lakes, Florida. Median list price: $154,850
5. Altamonte Springs, Florida. Median list price: $229,400
6. Lansing, Michigan. Median list price: $135,000
7. North Little Rock, Arkansas. Median list price: $160,000
8. Baltimore, Maryland. Median list price: $210,000
9. Tonawanda, New York. Median list price: $229,900
10. Wilmington, Delaware. Median list price: $222,000

Each of the markets that cracked in the top 10 are forecasted to have lower than national average unemployment rates in 2025, and are close to major job hubs like a state capitol in Harrisburg (No. 1) and North Little Rock (No. 7) as well as colleges and universities, as is the case for Rochester (No. 2), Lansing (No. 6), and Baltimore (No. 8).

“Marketplace conditions are important to consider for any prospective homebuyer, but more so for first-time homebuyers because their first home purchase is the last home purchase in which they won’t have any equity in a previous home to use toward their purchase,” says Joel Berner, the senior economist at Realtor.com.  

First-time buyers, he explains, tend to make a smaller down payment and finance more of their purchase, so they are more exposed to mortgage rates than an existing owner who can sell their home and use that cash toward their next purchase. 

The list also prioritizes a return on investment as first-time buyers can leverage their home equity to make their next purchase. Each of the cities on the top 10 list are forecasted to see price growth at a rate over the national projection of 3.7%, with Florida markets expected to perform the best, including 12.1% in Altamonte Springs, 9.6% in Villas, and 9% at Lauderdale Lakes. 

A savvy real estate agent can also help first-time buyers navigate the markets. “When I work with first-time buyers, I focus heavily on neighborhoods that are likely to retain good resale value,” says Andrew Fortune, a Realtor and brokerage owner at Great Colorado Homes. “If a first-time buyer can make a nice profit when they sell their first house, it can set them up for years of success.” 

A sign of a strong first-time buyer market, he says, is what he calls the grocery store test. Big grocery chains often better predict long-term neighborhood stability than new developments, so when Sam’s Club, Trader Joe’s, or Costco start popping up, population growth is usually steady, but prices haven’t skyrocketed yet, Fortune says.