How this major city became one of America's most affordable for home buyers

""A lot of people think about buying a house, and it just seems it's something you probably can't do," Weaver said of the cost. But it's well within reach here on what he earns managing a grocery store deli counter and Ray as a professional ballet dancer. And it's a far cry from markets like Seattle, where Weaver said his stepbrother had been looking at properties much like his own, except at five times the asking price."

"Though the housing market has tempered since the frenetic days of 2020, prices remain relentlessly high; the U.S. median topped $410,800 in the second quarter, a more than 50 percent climb in five years, according to Federal Reserve data. For people on the coasts, median valuations are more imposing in such markets as Seattle ($762,000), Boston ($812,000) and Los Angeles ($995,000)."

"How the city has remained one of the nation's most affordable is a story with many threads, chief among them the law of supply and demand. Since the steel industry that defined it collapsedfivedecades ago, Pittsburgh simply has more houses than people looking to buy them, including 25,000 properties that are vacant or abandoned. Plus inventory skews toward aging homes in need of upgrades, further leveling prices."

Pittsburgh remains unusually affordable compared with coastal metros, enabling first-time buyers to purchase homes near $163,000 and afford modest rehab costs. Nationally, the U.S. median home price reached $410,800 in the second quarter, while Pittsburgh's median sits near $229,000 compared with much higher medians in Seattle, Boston, and Los Angeles. A surplus of housing after the collapse of the steel industry includes roughly 25,000 vacant or abandoned properties. Large shares of older, upgrade-needy homes dampen prices, and local wages remain relatively strong relative to those lower home prices, improving affordability.

Read at Boston.com