San Diego ranks third worst US city to find a starter home: report
According to a new report from Construction Coverage, an online publisher of construction industry research reports, San Diego, Chula Vista and Carlsbad ranked 52nd out of 54 large U.S. metros in its 2025 analysis of the best cities to find a starter home.
The report, which evaluates more than 300 U.S. metros and all 50 states, combines data from Zillow, Redfin, and the U.S. Census to assess where young buyers still have a shot at homeownership. Factors included the availability of smaller homes, affordability relative to income, and the current rate of homeownership among people under 35.
UC San Diego impacted by crackdown on student visas
Key findings for the San Diego, Chula Vista and Carlsbad metros:
Starter-sized homes dominate the market with 63.3% of homes having three or fewer bedrooms.
Affordability remains a major hurdle. The median sale price for a starter home in the area is $825,397, based on this report.
Monthly mortgage payments for these homes would consume approximately 66.2% of the median renter income—one of the highest rates in the country.
These area's, ranking of 52 out of 54 large metros, highlights the ongoing challenges for young and first-time buyers in the region.
Popular reality TV show to hold casting event in San Diego
Nationally, the report shows a sharp decline in the construction of starter-sized homes. In the mid-1980s, one and two-bedroom homes made up about 24% of new single-family builds. By 2023, that number had dropped to just 5%, while four-bedroom homes surged to over 50%.
At the same time, housing prices have outpaced income growth dramatically. Since 2000, inflation-adjusted home prices have climbed by 56.5%, while median household income has increased by only 8.5%, according to researchers with Construction Coverage.
The full report, along data for all metros and states, is available at online: https://constructioncoverage.com/research/best-cities-to-find-a-starter-home
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
One of Jackson's most infamous potholes grew up to be a sinkhole — and still has no fix
Sewer. Stormwater. Now an apartment leak. The infamous Denver Street sinkhole has more suspects than a murder case — and no repair crew in sight. For two years, the 'mother of all potholes' at the intersection of Denver and Long streets in West Jackson has grown, collapsed, sprouted plants and outlasted city officials. Today it stretches more than six feet deep, with running water echoing inside and exposed pipes visible as drivers carefully steer around its edge to avoid falling in. Jackson communications director Nic Lott said a persistent water leak traced to an apartment complex at 136 Denver Street is preventing crews from repairing the sinkhole. The complex, located just up the block, is owned by Trademark Home Builders LLC. State records list the company as 'in good standing' with the Mississippi Secretary of State — meaning it has filed required paperwork and remains an active business. Lott said Monday the city has yet to make contact with the company about the leak as "the complex owner doesn't have an office or physical address." Denver Street sits just off Capitol Street, a main road that feeds into downtown, but it feels a world away. It's a quiet stretch, lined with worn-down apartment complexes and battered houses. Some houses are still hanging on, but others look like props from a disaster film — trees pushing through roofs, windows shattered, paint peeling in strips. It feels like a street that once had life and stability, but now it's more a portrait of neglect. At least two other apartment complexes line the street: 212 Denver Street and 213 Denver Street, according to Hinds County land rolls. So far, city officials have not indicated that either property is connected to the leak. It's the latest twist in a saga that started in 2023, when Denver Street's pothole first drew attention for the six-foot ragweed plant growing proudly from its center. Since then, the hole has only widened, the explanations have shifted and the city's most notorious road hazard has become a case study in Jackson infrastructure limbo. This year, it seems neglected apartment complexes keep surfacing as flashpoints in Jackson. From the recently condemned Blossom Apartments to the deteriorating Chapel Ridge complex, problem landlords and failing rental properties have become a recurring crisis in a city where more than half of residents are renters. According to the latest U.S. Census data, about 48.6 percent of Jackson households are owner-occupied, meaning just over half the city rents. In response, Jackson Mayor John Horhn created the "Housing Task Force," which will bring together legal, code enforcement, public officials and housing experts. Together, they will review property management practices, enforce city and state regulations and respond to tenant complaints. The group will also work with JXN Water and the One Percent Sales Tax Commission, recognizing the connection between quality housing, water reliability and infrastructure. Timeline: The Denver Street Sinkhole Saga Spring 2023 — A pothole forms at Denver and Long streets and sprouts a six-foot ragweed, tall enough to be mistaken for landscaping. December 2023 — Former interim public works director Robert Lee calls it 'the mother of all potholes' in an interview with the Clarion Ledger and blames a collapsed sanitary sewer pipe. Interim Third-Party Water Manager Ted Henifin, who leads JXN Water, also confirms the cause is a sanitary sewer issue and estimates repairs would cost $15,000 to $20,000. January–April 2024 — JXN Water notifies the city it has repaired the sewer failure and that drainage repairs are needed. On Jan. 30, JXN Water reports the sewer is cleared; on April 4, it follows up in writing to the city: "Sewer has been cleared from this location for drainage repair." April 2025 — The pothole collapses into a car-sized sinkhole. Ragweed dies, willow saplings sprout and flowing sewage and debris are visible inside the hole. Former Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba warns residents: "Don't play in a sinkhole. You can do so at your own peril." JXN Water tells the Clarion Ledger its records "strongly indicate" the sewer failure was already repaired nearly two years earlier. The utility says it identified a separate failure in the city's stormwater system — a collapsed drainage pipe not managed or maintained by JXN Water. Spokesperson Aisha Carson says JXN Water communicated this to the city twice in 2024. Lumumba acknowledges attempts to repair the site but says "unfortunately it has collapsed again." August 2025 — The sinkhole grows larger. Horhn's administration sends out a press release explaining the sinkhole has not been repaired due to a "persistent leak" from a neighboring apartment complex. No timeline for repairs is given. Charlie Drape is the Jackson beat reporter. You can contact him at cdrape@ This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Two years on, Denver Street sinkhole remains unrepaired in Jackson MS Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
25-07-2025
- Yahoo
Americans spend an entire week's worth of pay on rent every month—and in some cities, a full two weeks of income is just going to housing
U.S. median rent has risen from about $824 in 2008 to more than $1,300 in 2025. As rent has increased faster than wages, Americans are spending much more of their income on housing. On average, it now takes an entire week's worth of pay to afford monthly rent. It's hard to imagine today, but about 17 years ago, rent for Americans was less than $1,000 per month. In 2008, the median rent was just $824 per month; today it's more than $1,300—and many major metropolitan areas like New York City and Los Angeles dwarf that figure. Between 2022 and 2025 alone, rents jumped nearly 6%. That also means Americans are spending much more of their monthly income on housing. Although it's generally recommended not to spend more than a third of one's income on housing, many Americans are shelling out much more than that. That's largely due to rent prices rising faster than wage growth in the U.S. A recent Self Financial analysis of housing data from the U.S. Census, Apartment List, Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Reserve illustrates how many hours worth of work Americans are spending on housing each month. On average, Americans need to work 38.3 hours to cover their monthly rent, which works out to the average work week. But there's a decent spread on the number of work hours needed to pay for rent across the U.S. Vermont residents need to work 60.2 hours per month to meet the average monthly rental costs, the highest of any state, according to the Self Financial analysis. People living in South Dakota need just 27.6 hours to cover rent, placing them in the lowest spot. Unsurprisingly, New York City residents need to work the most hours to pay rent at 90.2 hours. These are the five U.S. states with the highest number of hours required to cover the average monthly rent: Vermont: 60.2 hours Hawaii: 59.9 hours California: 52.4 hours New Jersey: 50.4 hours Maryland: 50.3 hours And these are the five U.S. states with the fewest number of hours required to cover the average monthly rent: Maine: 32.3 hours North Dakota: 32.2 hours Alabama: 31.4 hours Arkansas: 31.1 hours South Dakota: 27.6 hours See the heat map below, which shows the number of hours required to cover the monthly rent in each state. To see the number of hours, hover over each state. Deeper red indicates a higher number of hours. While this may appear to be a grim outlook for rental housing in the U.S., there is a small glimmer of hope. As of May, median U.S. asking rent had actually dropped about 1% year-over-year, according to Redfin. That's because apartment construction is hovering near a 50-year high, Redfin economists said. 'Even though renter demand is strong, it's not keeping pace with supply,' said Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin senior economist. 'Many units are sitting vacant for months, which means renters have power to negotiate concessions and landlords have less leeway to keep rents high.' Meanwhile, it's still much cheaper to rent than to buy a home in the U.S. thanks to sky-high mortgage rates nearing 7% and home prices that are 55% higher than at the beginning of 2020, according to the Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index. Take Austin, Texas, for example. 'Many people in Austin are finding that it's a lot cheaper to rent than buy,' Austin real-estate agent Andrew Vallejo recently told Fortune. 'You could buy a home and have a monthly mortgage payment of $3,200, but the same home will rent for $1,900. Unless the buyer has a good amount of money for a down payment, renting is way less expensive.' This story was originally featured on
NBC Sports
03-07-2025
- NBC Sports
Report: Commanders' Plan B could involve going to President Trump, Congress
The federal government could be moving from the big, beautiful bill to a sweet, swanky stadium. The tail end of a report from Fox 5 in D.C. regarding the recent dinner hosted by the Commanders for members of the D.C. Council adds an important nugget regarding the potential fallback option for the Commanders, if the D.C. Council doesn't move quickly enough to allow the stadium to be opened by 2030. Per the report, D.C. Council chairperson Phil Mendelson confirmed that he has heard talk of a Plan B that may involve the Commanders going to President Trump and members of Congress to make it happen on time. So what would the Commanders expect the President to do? Pressure the D.C. Council with mean tweets? Come up with the cash that the D.C. Council is reluctant to invest for the project? The mere mention of trying to use the federal government to get the stadium bill helps explain the decision for Commanders owner Josh Harris and Commissioner Roger Goodell to participate in an Oval Office dog-and-pony show regarding the holding of the 2027 NFL draft on the National Mall in D.C. Of course, Republicans are supposed to be against excessive government spending. Which would, in theory, prompt Trump and those aligned with him to bristle at the idea of a pork-barrel project for the Hogs. But the party has changed under the current and former chief executive. Political ideology has been replaced with adhering to whatever the President and those whispering in his ear want. That's not a political comment. It's a comment about our current political reality. And it provides an opening for a multibillionaire like Harris to spin the wheel on the possibility of getting the President to support using hundreds of millions in taxpayer money to get the stadium built on the team's preferred timetable. Even if it means naming the stadium after him.
