News Releases

June 11, 2019 at 11:00 AM EDT
Redfin Ranks the Most Affordable Places to Get Married and Buy a Home in the Same Year
For Newlyweds, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh are the most affordable places to have a wedding and purchase their first home

SEATTLE, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- (NASDAQ: RDFN) — Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh are the most affordable places where couples can throw a wedding and also cover a down payment on their first home, according to a new report from Redfin (www.redfin.com), a technology-powered real estate brokerage. In all three Midwestern metro areas, the average combined cost of a wedding and a down payment is less than $65,000, compared with the national average of more than $109,000.

Redfin Logo (PRNewsfoto/Redfin)

San Francisco, where typical wedding and down payment costs add up to $325,000, is the most expensive place to get married and buy a home, followed by Los Angeles($168,000) and New York($158,000). 

To determine how much cash couples in different parts of the country would need on hand to throw a wedding and buy their first home, Redfin calculated down payment amounts in 25 metro areas, assuming a 20 percent down payment on the median list price as of April 2019. Redfin paired it with metro-level and national data on wedding costs from WeddingWire, which found the average cost of a wedding, including an engagement ring, ceremony and reception, and honeymoon to be $38,700 in 2018.

Here is the full ranking of the most affordable cities to have a wedding and purchase a home, leading up to the most expensive:

Rank

Metropolitan
Divisions

Average Wedding Cost
(weddingwire.com)

Median List
Price

Down
Payment
(20% of
Median
List Price)

Wedding
+ Down
Payment

1

Cleveland, OH

$22,000

$169,900

$33,980

$55,980

2

Detroit, MI

$29,000

$139,900

$27,980

$56,980

3

Pittsburgh, PA

$27,000

$189,900

$37,980

$64,980

4

Tampa, FL

$23,000

$250,990

$50,198

$73,198

5

Orlando, FL

$26,000

$270,340

$54,068

$80,068

6

Hartford, CT

$30,000

$251,000

$50,200

$80,200

7

Philadelphia, PA

$33,000

$241,000

$48,200

$81,200

8

Phoenix, AZ

$23,000

$292,235

$58,447

$81,447

9

Minneapolis, MN

$23,000

$295,000

$59,000

$82,000

10

Atlanta, GA

$27,000

$279,900

$55,980

$82,980

11

Charlotte, NC

$27,000

$289,900

$57,980

$84,980

12

Houston, TX

$33,000

$279,000

$55,800

$88,800

13

Raleigh, NC

$27,000

$314,500

$62,900

$89,900

14

Chicago, IL

$37,000

$289,900

$57,980

$94,980

15

Dallas, TX

$30,000

$325,000

$65,000

$95,000

16

Baltimore, MD

$35,000

$315,000

$63,000

$98,000

17

Sacramento, CA

$26,000

$439,000

$87,800

$113,800

18

Denver, CO

$28,000

$439,900

$87,980

$115,980

19

Washington, D.C.

$39,000

$443,000

$88,600

$127,600

20

Seattle, WA

$25,000

$599,950

$119,990

$144,990

21

Boston, MA

$38,000

$559,000

$111,800

$149,800

22

San Diego, CA

$27,000

$639,000

$127,800

$154,800

23

New York, NY metro

$50,000

$535,000

$107,000

$157,000

24

Los Angeles, CA

$33,000

$679,000

$135,800

$168,800

25

San Francisco, CA

$40,000

1,425,000

$285,000

$325,000

National/Combined Markets Average

$38,700

$308,000

$79,619

$109,939

In expensive coastal metros including Seattle, Boston and San Diego, a down payment alone costs over $100,000, without factoring in a wedding. For couples in these places with visions of a dream wedding, it might be worth spending the money on the party, considering it is roughly half the cost of a down payment, which may be far less attainable.

Even in relatively affordable housing markets like Phoenix, Minneapolis or Atlanta, a typical down payment is more than twice as much as an average wedding. If saving for a home is a priority of residents in these areas, skipping the big day and eloping to city hall might be a worthwhile strategy.

To read the full report, including personal stories from Redfin employees currently navigating the wedding and home buying process, please visit: https://www.redfin.com/blog/choosing-between-wedding-and-down-payment.

About Redfin
Redfin (www.redfin.com) is a technology-powered real estate brokerage, combining its own full-service agents with modern technology to redefine real estate in the consumer's favor. Founded by software engineers, Redfin has the country's #1 brokerage website and offers a host of online tools to consumers, including the Redfin Estimate, the automated home-value estimate with the industry's lowest published error rate for listed homes. Homebuyers and sellers enjoy a full-service, technology-powered experience from Redfin real estate agents, while saving thousands in commissions. Redfin serves more than 85 major metro areas across the U.S. and Canada. The company has closed more than $85 billion in home sales.

For more information or to contact a local Redfin real estate agent, visit www.redfin.com. To learn about housing market trends and download data, visit the Redfin Data Center. To be added to Redfin's press release distribution list, subscribe here. To view Redfin's press center, click here.

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SOURCE Redfin

Redfin Journalist Services: Erin Osgood, 206-588-6863, press@redfin.com