Thinking of purchasing a home? Don't mind possibly leaving your area? Well, before you start looking, take a few moments and read this Brief. It will show you which metro areas are likely to offer some real bargains and which are not.

This is one of a series of Briefs that uses data collected in the 1990 Census of Population and Housing to examine the characteristics of housing in America's metropolitan areas (MA’s). This Brief looks specifically at three different financial characteristics — home value and selected monthly homeowner costs (by mortgage status) in 1990, and selected monthly owner costs as a percentage of household income in 1989.

All these data pertain to specified owner-occupied housing units; that is, owner-occupied one-family houses located on fewer than 10 acres without a business or medical office on the property. Selected monthly owner costs include mortgage payments (if any), real estate taxes, property insurance, and utilities and fuels.

The MA’s used here correspond to the definitions that were in place in 1990. The count of 335 MA’s equals the total number of MSA’s (metropolitan statistical areas) and PMSA’s (primary metropolitan statistical areas). PMSA’s are aggregated into consolidated metropolitan statistical areas, not discussed in this Brief.