Lafayette, Louisiana Named One of Best Cities in U.S. to Find Starter Home

If you're a first-time home buyer in the Lafayette, Louisiana area, you're in luck because the city has just been named one of the best places in America to find a starter home.

The new study released by Construction Coverage provides data on 330 metros in all 50 states, breaking those metros down into size.

The methodology

Based on various key metrics, Lafayette ranks 14th out of 90 midsize U.S. metros on the list of best cities to find a starter home.

To determine the best places to find a starter home, researchers came up with a composite score based on the following:

• The percentage of homes with three or fewer bedrooms
• The monthly starter-size home mortgage payment as a percentage of median renter income
• The median sales price of homes with three or fewer bedrooms
• Supply of homes
• The homeownership rate for under-35 householders

Metros were then ranked accordingly.

How Lafayette got such a high ranking

Here are some of the key takeaways from the report regarding the Lafayette, Louisiana metro area:

• 76.6% of Lafayette homes are starter homes (have three or fewer bedrooms)
• Lafayette homes have a median sale price of $198,785
• The monthly mortgage payment for a typical starter home in Lafayette commands 40.3% of the median renter income

Other cities in Louisiana ranking high on the list

In the large metro category, New Orleans-Metairie came in as the fifth-best to find a starter home.

Shreveport-Bossier City actually came in at #6 in the midsize metro list ahead of Lafayette. And in the small metro category, Monroe came in at #10.

And Louisiana overall...

As a whole, the state of Louisiana ranks #4 overall as the best state to find a starter home with a composite score of 79.7.

West Virginia topped the list with an 86.1 score.

Now could be a good time to house-shop

So, if you're in the market for a starter home in Lafayette, now might not be such a bad time to establish roots, build equity, and lay the groundwork for financial security.

Happy house hunting!