For many Americans, especially Gen Z and Millenials, owning a home is out of reach. A report earlier this year found that 86 percent of renters are not able to buy a house.

However, according to recent research by Zillow, the share of affordable homes is growing nationwide with at least 10 out of 50 metro areas seeing double-digit growth in affordable real estate, i.e., housing costs don’t exceed 30 percent of household income.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, three out of four homes on the market are considered affordable, making it the most affordable city in the country.

According to Zillow, 73 percent of listings in Steel City are affordable, and the median home value is $215,661, over $200,000 below that for the country ($416,700). The company notes that nearly every city of the 50 it analyzed had “gains in affordability, some large and some tiny.” This is due primarily to the drop in mortgage rates and price cuts.

“The current market in Pittsburgh has been very strong. On average, houses stay on the market for 30 days, and sellers are still getting bidding wars with an average list price/sale price ratio of 98 percent. Even with interest rates rising, Pittsburgh has continually seen a steady increase in home sale value,” Sean Kelly, a Pittsburgh-based real estate agent at Howard Hanna Real Estate/Luxury Portfolio International, told Travel + Leisure.

Pittsburgh was the highest-ranking Pennsylvania city on U.S. News’ Best Places to Live in America list, coming in 36th place. The website noted that, in a study done in 2023, only Detroit outperformed Steel City as more affordable for homebuyers.

“Some of the trendiest places to live with affordable houses are Sharpsburg, Millvale, Etna, Troy Hill, and Brighton Heights,” Kelly explained. “There are still pockets throughout the city that tend to be more affordable than their neighboring communities, like Morningside, Stanton Heights, and Greenfield.”

Over 300,000 people live in Pittsburgh, located at the meeting point of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers. While it has its roots in the steel industry, Pittsburgh has evolved into a culturally diverse city with many museums, a botanic garden, and a bustling dining scene, which attracts newcomers. (The city grew 0.1 percent in population in 2023, while the region overall saw a two percent decline.) Kelly said Pittsburgh “has big-city amenities with a small-town feel.”

Second on Zillow’s list of affordable cities is St. Louis, with 64 percent of affordable listings and a median home value of $251,256. Buffalo, New York, is third, with 63 percent of home listings considered affordable. Austin and San Antonio in Texas saw the most significant gains in affordable housing, with both cities scoring a 13 percent gain over last year. 

“California metros, along with a handful in the Northeast,  remain among the nation’s most unaffordable, with fewer than 15 percent of listings considered affordable in September,” Zillow reported, noting that Providence, Rhode Island, and San Francisco have 15 percent or fewer affordable listings on the market, making them the least affordable metro areas.

You can read the full report and its findings on zillow.com.