Peoria among top 20 mid-sized metro areas for finding a starter home, study says

The Peoria area was ranked among the top 20 mid-sized metropolitan areas in the United States to find a starter home, according to a recent study by a national publisher of construction insurance guides.

Construction Coverage ranked Peoria the 16th best mid-sized metro market in the country to find a starter home among 90 markets ranked by the publication.

Using data from the United States Census Bureau's American Community Survey, Zillow, Redfin and Freddie Mac, they compiled a composite score for each market in the U.S. based on the percentage of occupied homes with three bedrooms or less, the monthly mortgage payment for those homes as a percentage of median renter income, the median sale price, the monthly supply and the homeownership rate for people under the age of 35.

Through this formula, Peoria received a figure of 67.5, just ahead of the Sarasota, Florida, metro – which had a score of 66.4 – and just behind Brownsville, Texas, coming in at 69.4.

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How Peoria's starter home market stacks up

Overall, the report said that 71.4% of all homes in the Peoria area were starter-sized — defined as having three or fewer bedrooms.

Among the 90 mid-sized markets, Peoria had the lowest median sale price for starter homes at $127,348, with the fourth-highest homeownership rate for those under the age of 35 at 55.8%.

In terms of mortgage payments, Peoria had the lowest payment as a share of renter income, with only 22.4% of income going toward the mortgage. The Peoria area also tied for the fifth-fewest months on the market, with homes only spending 1.5 months on sale before purchase.

Leading the list of mid-sized markets nationwide was Youngstown, Ohio; followed by Beaumont-Port Arthur, Texas; the Huntington-Ashland area of Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia; Flint, Michigan; and Ocala, Florida. Peoria ranked three spots behind the Quad Cities area among mid-sized metros, the only two areas with presences in Illinois on that section of the list.

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What are the best cities to buy a starter home?

St. Louis ranked as the 12th best starter home metro for large markets, with Chicago coming in at 15th on the list. Topping the list of large metro markets was Pittsburgh.

For small metros, Decatur ranked as the eighth-best in the U.S. for a starter home, with Kankakee coming in at 32nd, Rockford ranking 65th, Bloomington-Normal coming in at 139th and Champaign-Urbana ranking 168th. The Weirton-Steubenville area of Ohio and West Virginia topped the list.

The state of Illinois was tied with South Carolina for the 17th best in the country for a starter home with a composite score of 60.2, just ahead of Wisconsin at 59.7 and behind Alaska at 60.4. West Virginia was deemed the best state for starter homes.

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