Pittsburgh named one of the top locations for single homebuyers

According to realtor.com®, Pittsburgh is the eighth best place for single homebuyers to purchase a property. With a median list of $180,000, Pittsburgh is more affordable than many other metros. Nearly 44 percent of mortgages in Pittsburgh are taken out by singles.

“Buy now. Get your foot in the door and buy something. It may not be your dream home, but the affordable market is shrinking and interest rates are moving up. Get equity and in two to five years buy that dream home,” said Realtors® Association of Metropolitan Pittsburgh President David Dean. “The current housing market is strong for sellers, but near awful for buyers. In many markets, inventory is down year-to-date by as much as 40 to 60 percent. Homes are seeing bidding wars and price escalation, which is putting many markets out of reach. New construction is next to nothing and what there is is well over the median average of $147,000.”

“Pittsburgh consistently ranks in the top 10 on several metrics, how it’s affordable, ease of financing and quality of life. For now, you can still raise a family and buy a house without breaking the bank. The affordable factor works both with housing, schools and life quality concerns. But Pittsburgh needs to have a serious conversation about affordable housing. We’ve always been behind national trends and tend to be conservative. The current real estate market is challenging that premise,” added Dean.

Realtor.com® that in 1960, only 13 percent of U.S. households were those living solo, and last year, it was 27.9 percent. In addition to analyzing the number of mortgages by single people, along with the share of one-person households, the site also considered the social and active lifestyles of the areas.

“More people are being drawn to Pittsburgh for a variety of reasons,” said Pittsburgh broker Arch Autenreith. “It’s a stable economy with lots of activities for the younger crowd. The educational opportunities within the city limits are diverse, with Carnegie Mellon, Chatham, Pitt, Duquesne and CCAC, with many more state and private colleges within driving distance.”