
Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Buffalo continues to get the recognition nationwide of being one of the most affordable cities to live in.
A study conducted by advisors from Forbes compared the 100 largest U.S. cities with available data across key metrics, including affordability, inventory and lifestyle, to determine the best cities in which to buy an affordable home.
Forbes Advisors ended up ranking the City of Buffalo third on their list, with a median home sale price of about $211,133.
According to Forbes, "Buffalo has the third-lowest costs as a percentage of median household income, with just 14.9% of earnings required to cover home expenses."
Where Buffalo shines, according to Forbes' rankings, is a solid educational reputation with the school system ranking 10th in their analysis, a 20th place ranking for dining and drinking per capita, and the city's proximity to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
"I think it's great publicity for our community, and it speaks to what we've known for a long time," said Hunt Real Estate CEO, Peter Hunt in an interview with WBEN. "It certainly has been the case for a long time that we've always been a very affordable town, relative to any other major city in this country, even in a mid-range city. So it's good news. It's affirmation of, I think, what we all kind of felt here."
While Hunt is unsure if any of the various categories that went into Forbes' rating is more valid than the next, what it really boils down to is cost of living factored into the cost of a house itself.
"It's not just a matter of the price of the home itself, it's a matter of taxation and other factors that go into a composite that we would call affordability," Hunt noted.
Hunt agrees with Forbes' assessment and rating for Buffalo, saying it's a good indication of something Buffalonians and Western New Yorkers should be proud of. He also believes it's a chance that the city should market.
"As you look at the opportunities this community has, in terms of the investment in technology infrastructure, for example, it will make us that much more attractive, I think, for people that may be considering moving with a career opportunity such as that," Hunt explained. "And I think it validates a lot of other things going on here too. We have an enormous and highly sophisticated infrastructure, in terms of everything from sports to art, to museums, to water resources, to our climate even, which I think people underplay as a real asset. I think if you put all those things together and add to that, the incredible affordability of where they put us in Forbes, for example, I think it just adds to something that I think many of us have felt, but now is validated on a more widespread national basis."
In Forbes' ratings, advisors gave Buffalo a perfect 100 score for affordability, the only such rating given for any of the cities analyzed in this study. This score considers three metrics: Median sale price, homeowner costs as a percentage of median income and property tax as a percentage of home value.
Hunt says while it doesn't really mean all that much, it's another feather in the cap for people of the city and the region.
"Somebody else has said something that we might have felt or believed in our hearts, but now it's validated. Now the world can see that this is a great place to buy a home," he said. "They factor in livability, as I said before, and they factor in other aspects of a lifestyle that can contribute to something called affordability."
From here, Hunt believes now is the time for the Buffalo to put its stake in the ground when it comes to who and what makes the city better and different from others. He knows places like Visit Buffalo Niagara and Invest Buffalo Niagara are already all over these kind of ratings.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is the most beautiful mid-size city in the United States, and I've had the opportunity to see a lot of the mid-sized cities, and there's nice things everywhere," Hunt said. "You put the whole package together, including professional sports, including one of the top-three or four art museums and collections in the United States, including two Great Lakes and the Niagara River, and 90 miles of undeveloped waterfront in the Niagara Frontier. You put that package together and it's awfully hard to beat. And the beauty of it is something that I think we take for granted. I just think that's one element we should claim as ours."