Massachusetts Ranked Number One Most Expensive State to Buy a Home

Massachusetts has been ranked as the number one most expensive state in which to buy a home, according to a recent report.

The report by SmartAsset said the personal-finance website used metrics that analyzed 48 states and Washington, DC, based on their effective property tax rate, median listing price and price per square foot, median value for homes in the bottom third of the market, and average closing costs.

However, Louisiana and Delaware were the only states excluded from the report due to insufficient data.

A report by MarketWatch said:

All the states were ranked for each of these metrics, and then researchers calculated their average ranking. This then determined the index value they were assigned on a scale from 0 to 100, with 100 being the cheapest. Massachusetts’ index came in at zero, while West Virginia was the most affordable state with a value of 100.

A study released by CNBC in July of 2018 previously ranked Massachusetts as the third most expensive place to live in America.

“The Bay State is one of the four states that refer to themselves as commonwealths (the others are Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Virginia). There is no practical difference between a commonwealth and a state, but in Massachusetts one might want to put the emphasis on ‘wealth,’ because that is what it takes to live there,” the report concluded.

In June of this year, reports said Boston was ranked as the fifth most expensive city to rent property, trailing just behind San Francisco, New York, San Jose, and Los Angeles, “with a median rent of $2,300 for a one-bedroom unit.”

In contrast, the SmartAsset analysis found that West Virginia is a bargain hunter’s dream when it comes to purchasing a home.

“The state not only had lowest median listing price in the country at $169,900, but also one of the lowest property tax rates at just 0.57%,” the report said, adding, “Overall, the South and Midwest were the cheapest places to be a homeowner, with states from these regions, such as Arkansas and Indiana, ranking among the most affordable.”