If you want to buy a home, it will cost you.

Mortgage site HSH.com has updated its estimate of how much annual income a household would need to buy a home in major metropolitan areas in the US, according to first-quarter 2016 data.

In Q1, the site found that the prices of sold homes in the majority of the markets it examined dropped from Q4 2016, but an increase in 30-year mortgage rates more than countered that drop. Between the mortgage rates and the prices — which may have been less than Q4 but were still more than a year prior — the average home price increased by about 9% across all markets.

HSH.com looked at median home prices from the National Association of Realtors. It took into account interest rates for common 30-year fixed-rate mortgages and property taxes and insurance costs to figure out how much money it would take to pay a median-priced home's mortgage, taxes, and insurance in each city, and how much you'd have to earn to afford it.

HSH.com emphasizes that this is only the base cost of owning a home, without taking into account maintenance and other incidentals.

The site also calculated how it would change the salary needed to buy a home if a buyer were to put 10% down instead of the recommended 20%. No matter where you are, putting down less makes things more expensive — you can visit HSH.com to see both numbers.

Salaries are listed from lowest to highest needed and are rounded to the nearest $500.

SEE ALSO: Here's how much you need to earn to live comfortably in 15 major US cities while still saving money

19. San Antonio

Population: 1,409,000

Median home price: $202,600

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,186

Salary needed to buy: $51,000

18. Philadelphia

Population: 1,517,628

Median home price: $209,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,221

Salary needed to buy: $52,500

17. Orlando

Population: 255,483

Median home price: $230,000

Monthly mortgage payment: $1,229

Salary needed to buy: $52,500

A Montauk estate built on a plot of land that was originally bought for $620,000 in 1992 is now on the market for a whopping $48 million.

Owned by framing business owner Eli Wilner and his wife, Barbara, the estate encompasses more than 36 acres of private reserve on the waterfront next to where Andy Warhol once lived. It's in a particularly remote part of Montauk, and, Wilner said, their initial purchase didn't even come with a permit to build on the empty, hilly land. 

But after their petition for permits was approved, the couple spent millions on constructing the home and fixing up the landscaping. They now enjoy a 400-foot private beach, which borders a 3,000-foot beach that rarely gets visitors. 

"We were amazingly lucky. We found it by chance," Wilner told Business Insider. "I enjoyed the whole process."

The couple is selling the home now because they are moving to Florida to be closer to family. It was previously on the market for $35 million in 2008, then $50 million in 2010. According to property records, the price was bumped up further to $55 million in 2016 before being brought to market at its current price by Brown Harris Stevens. 

If the home ends up selling at $48 million, its value would have appreciated by about 7,600% over what the owners originally paid for the land. 

SEE ALSO: No one wants to buy this $20 million townhouse owned by a real-life 'Wolf of Wall Street'-er

According to the listing, the three-story home has about 7,000 square feet of space. Its blue roof was built in a Japanese-inspired style.

There are plenty of gorgeous beach views to be taken in from the various rooms ...

... and wide decks make the most of the home's perch.

A unique house situated in the affluent town of Hillsborough, California, has finally found a buyer.

Known by Bay Area locals as the "Flintstones House" for its kooky attributes, the house was originally listed for $4.2 million in 2015. After two price chops, the listing site finally says that the house has a "sale pending." It's unclear what the final sale price was, though it was most recently listed for $3.19 million.

Indeed, many neighbors and locals call the home an eyesore, especially after it was painted orange and purple, according to Tech Insider.

Take a look around the home that has divided a community. Alain Pinel Realtors had the listing.

SEE ALSO: No one wants to buy this $20 million townhouse owned by a real-life 'Wolf of Wall Street'-er

Even from far away, it's easy to see that the Flintstones House isn't a normal property.

It's made from concrete that's been painted orange and purple, though it was first finished in an off-white color when it was built in 1976.

The odd shape of the house was created by applying shotcrete to both a steel rebar structure and a series of mesh frames held up by inflated balloons typically used for aeronautical research.

The Caribbean islands are a playground for the rich and famous, so it comes as no surprise that they are also home to some of the world's most expensive real estate. 

International real estate listings database Point2Homes helped us compile a list of the most expensive homes that money can buy in the Caribbean. 

These houses, which cost as much as $125 million, have all of the perks: private beaches, helipads, and multiple infinity swimming pools. 

St. Barts swept the board with four homes in the list of the most expensive properties right now. Keep scrolling to see the most expensive properties in the Caribbean. 

SEE ALSO: The most expensive homes you can buy in 28 countries

12. BAHAMAS: You can buy your own slice of Caribbean paradise for just $29 million. This four-bedroom retreat in Lyford Cay comes with a 355-foot private beachfront and a private guest house.

Source: Sotheby's International Realty

11. ST. BARTS: This hilltop estate, known as Villa Rose, will set you back $34.9 million. The four king-sized bedrooms are spread across three separate buildings, each with a private deck.

Source: RE/MAX Island Properties

10. ST. BARTS: High up in the hills of St. Barts' Gouverneur area, this four-bedroom property is spread across two buildings with a shared 18-meter pool. It's currently listed for $37.1 million.

Source: RE/MAX Island Properties

Johnsonville, Connecticut, looks straight out of an episode of "Twin Peaks"— old mill included. But unlike the small town on TV, Johnsonville has been abandoned for nearly 20 years.

Located on 62 acres off the Connecticut River, Johnsonville is up for grabs at $1.9 million. An eccentric millionaire with the funds to spare will find green pastures, old-timey buildings, and the former owner's mansion, which is rumored to be haunted by Mr. Johnson himself.

It's now unoccupied, with the exception of a caretaker and a security guard who keeps aspiring ghost hunters and urban explorers from snooping around the grounds. Take a look. 

SEE ALSO: This sleepy California city was $3 million in debt — now it's cashing in on the marijuana industry

Johnsonville, Connecticut, is the shell of a once booming mill town.

Established in 1802, the little hamlet became an industrial center for twine production.

A community rose up around the mill. Homes, a church, a store, and a post office insulated the town from the outside. It's unknown how many people lived in Johnsonville at its peak.

Snap CEO Evan Spiegel married supermodel Miranda Kerr during an "intimate" event in their Brentwood, California, home on Saturday, E! News reported.

Spiegel and Kerr bought their lavish home for $12 million last year, as TMZ first reported. The 7,164-square-foot home came with city views, a pool and pool house, a home gym, and a guest house.

Take a look around the home that hosted an estimated 50 people for the wedding ceremony and reception on Saturday.

SEE ALSO: No one wants to buy this $20 million townhouse owned by a real-life 'Wolf of Wall Street'-er

Renowned California architect Gerard Colcord designed the house.

It's in the Brentwood section of Los Angeles.

There's more than 7,100 square feet of living space.

Tiny homes are all the rage. Real estate is getting expensive, and younger people are more worried about paying off student loans than saving up for a house. Tiny homes offer a way to live somewhere on the cheap, pare down your life to the essentials, and not necessarily skimp on some of the nicer things in life.

And if you don't want to buy one, they're great to rent for the weekend. Tiny homes are a popular category on Airbnb, and there's even a company worth millions of dollars dedicated to renting out tiny cottages.

On roofs, wheels, and in backyard, here are 29 of the most beautiful small homes in the world.

Melissa Stanger contributed to an earlier version of this story.

KODA Walking Concrete can be taken apart and easily rebuilt in a new location.

Size: 250 sq. ft

Location: Tallinn, Estonia 

The KODA Walking Concrete made the World Architecture Festival's shortlist of the best "Small Projects" in 2016. It's completely mobile, and can be unassembled and reassembled if it needs to move to a new location. The company that developed it, Kodasema, designed the two-tiered home so that it can be assembled in as little as four hours.

The simple design allows it to function as whatever space is needed, be it a beach house, mountain hut, café, or office.

This 196-square-foot home cost its architect less than $12,000 to build.

Size: 196 sq. ft.

Location: Boise, Idaho

Boise architect Macy Miller decided to downgrade from a full-size home to a tiny one, which she designed and built herself. She lives there with her partner and dog.

The home, which sits on top of a flatbed trailer, cost about $11,500 all in. The most expensive component is the composting toilet — about $2,000 — which uses barely any water.

A young American filmmaker converted an old van into a mobile studio so he could travel the country.

Size: 2003 Chevrolet Express, L x 79″ W x 82″

Location: United States 

Zach Both, a 23-year-old filmmaker, lives and works out of a converted van. It took Both six months to transform the vehicle into a fully functional home and studio, complete with a bed, kitchen, and desk. 

Joe and Ali Olson spend their days traveling around the world with their one-year-old daughter, Annabelle.

Each in their early 30s, the couple were able to quit their jobs as public school teachers in August 2015 and retire after just eight years in the workforce.

How do you retire early as a public school teacher? The key: minimizing cost of living and finding a good side hustle. 

The Olsons met in 2004 when they were both college students, and got married during winter break of their senior year. Straight out of college they moved to Las Vegas, where Joe had accepted a teaching position with Teach For America. Ali started as a substitute teacher and eventually joined TFA as well, teaching English at a local high school.

"Luckily, Las Vegas has a really low cost of living — but it also has a low teacher pay," Ali told the Mad Fientist on an episode of his "Financial Independence Podcast."

So they took on any extra jobs they could — teaching summer school, running clubs, after-school tutoring — to bulk up their salaries. "It's a big difference percentage-wise because if you're making $35,000, and you teach summer school for $3,500, it's like, 'Wow, there's a 10% boost in my salary,'" Joe explained.

Some years, they were able to boost their income by as much as 50% through these supplemental positions.

Eventually, the couple realized they wanted to achieve financial independence and have the freedom to pursue whatever dreams they wanted, whenever they wanted. They continued to live frugally, saving around 75% of their teaching incomes, and in 2008, they bought their first rental property in Vegas.

In the following couple of years, the couple scooped up 14 more rentals. Though they lost money on these during the financial crisis, the market eventually turned and their properties starting bringing in steady profits, eventually pushing their net worth over $1 million.

Now, they're completely financially independent, traveling the world with Annabelle in tow, and occasionally sharing their experiences on their blog, Adventuring Along. Read on to see how they did it. 

SEE ALSO: A man who retired at 34 explains one bad savings habit that everyone should avoid

DON'T MISS: The simple strategy one man used to save enough money to retire at 30

The Olsons graduated from college with a combined $30,000 in student loans to pay off — no small amount, but not as much as it could have been, thanks to the low tuition costs of their public, in-state college and assistance from relatives. But they lived frugally and made consistent payments, quickly watching that number shrink.

In 2007, Joe and Ali bought their Las Vegas condo at a steep discount. At the end of 2008 — amid the financial crises when housing prices were battered — they also purchased a rental property nearby and started trying to turn a profit. It didn't work out at first, and they took a financial hit.

"It seemed like a good deal because the price of the property was $120,000, and at the peak, it had sold just two years before for $360,000," Joe said. "But then the prices kept falling. And it kept falling in 2009 in 2010. And that property actually bottomed out being worth around $80,000. So we were under water on it, but we were still making money every month because the rent was higher than the mortgage payment by a decent amount."

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A developer of luxury homes has pleaded no contest in Los Angeles to misdemeanor charges stemming from construction of a huge Bel Air mansion that the city says has extensive features that were never approved.

The pleas were entered Tuesday on behalf of Mohamed Hadid to three charges involving erecting a structure other than what was permitted, failing to make the building conform to code and failing to comply with an order issued by the Department of Building and Safety.

"These were serious violations," City Attorney Mike Feuer said in a statement. "It was essential to hold the defendant accountable for committing them. We have building and safety rules for a reason, and no one is above the law. At the sentencing hearing we'll make our case for strong and appropriate sanctions."

Hadid is the father of models Bella and Gigi Hadid.

The Los Angeles Times says the roughly 30,000-square-foot (2,787 square meters) mansion has entire areas including bedrooms, decks and an IMAX theater that weren't approved.

City officials ordered work on the gigantic home stopped three years ago amid claims by neighbors below that the hillside above their homes had been destabilized.

One of them, entertainment lawyer Joseph Horacek, labeled the unfinished structure the "Starship Enterprise."

Some critics want most of the mansion to be torn down, but its fate is not yet certain.

The 68-year-old Hadid, who did not appear in court Tuesday, will be sentenced next month.

The prosecution wants the judge to impose numerous requirements, including hundreds of hours of community service, fines of $1,000 for each of the three charges, and a contribution of $250,000 to a community fund.

Senior Assistant City Attorney Tina Hess also wants a bond to ensure that if the structure cannot be completed legally, the city will have funds to pay for its demolition.

One of Hadid's attorneys, Robert Shapiro, said at a hearing earlier this month that his client was trying to get loans to complete the house and argued for more time to work things out with the city, raising the prospect that it could sit unfinished for years if the case went to trial.

The attorney urged that the best thing to do would be to complete the house, but the Times said city records indicate that revised plans already submitted have not yet received numerous clearances from the building department.

SEE ALSO: The most expensive home for sale in every state

Join the conversation about this story »

The Obamas have purchased the 8,200-square-foot home they've been living in since moving out of the White House, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

According to property records, Barack and Michelle Obama purchased the home for $8.1 million. It was listed at $5.3 million in 2016 by Joe Lockhart, who was a press secretary for Bill Clinton, but it did not sell. The Obamas rented it in January.

"Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property," a spokesman for the family told The Post.

Though smaller than the Obamas' former abode, the house is still a lavish residence in a desirable neighborhood in the nation's capital. It was built in 1928, renovated in 2012, and contains nine bedrooms, according to its listing on RedFin. The sale price makes it the second-most-expensive home in the Washington, DC, neighborhood of Kalorama, after Jeff Bezos' 2016 purchase.

The Obamas most likely haven't spent much time in the home — they have been photographed traveling the world since Barack Obama left office in January.

SEE ALSO: The bizarre 'Flintstones House' in a wealthy San Francisco suburb has finally found a buyer

The Obamas traded white for brick at their newly purchased mansion in the Kalorama neighborhood of Washington, DC.

It's gated and private, though it's close to the road.

The gated driveway has plenty of space for Secret Service vehicles.

The Obamas have purchased the 8,200-square-foot home they've been living in since moving out of the White House, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

According to property records, Barack and Michelle Obama purchased the home for $8.1 million. It was listed at $5.3 million in 2016 by Joe Lockhart, who was a press secretary for Bill Clinton, but it did not sell. The Obamas rented it in January.

"Given that President and Mrs. Obama will be in Washington for at least another two and a half years, it made sense for them to buy a home rather than continuing to rent property," a spokesman for the family told The Post.

Though smaller than the Obamas' former abode, the house is still a lavish residence in a desirable neighborhood in the nation's capital. It was built in 1928, renovated in 2012, and contains nine bedrooms, according to its listing on RedFin. The sale price makes it the second-most-expensive home in the Washington, DC, neighborhood of Kalorama, after Jeff Bezos' 2016 purchase.

The Obamas most likely haven't spent much time in the home — they have been photographed traveling the world since Barack Obama left office in January.

Join the conversation about this story »

When it comes time to sell your home, you might consider making some changes to make it more appealing to buyers. 

According to a new analysis by Zillow, paint color should definitely be a change you consider. 

After analyzing more than 32,000 listing photos of homes that have sold across the US, Zillow came up with a list of the colors that performed the best.

For example, homes that are painted "greige," a shade somewhere between light gray and beige, tended to sell for $3,496 more than similar homes in brown or tan. 

"Color can be a powerful tool for attracting buyers to a home, especially in listing photos and videos," Svenja Gudell, Zillow's chief economist, said in a press release. "Painting walls in fresh, natural-looking colors, particularly in shades of blue and pale gray, not only make a home feel larger, but also are neutral enough to help future buyers envision themselves living in the space. Incorporating light blue in kitchens and bathrooms may pay off especially well as the color complements white countertops and cabinets, a growing trend in both rooms."

Here are Zillow's findings on what colors to choose (and which to avoid): 

Kitchens: 

• Blue (light blue to soft gray-blue): home sold for $1,809 more on average
• Yellow (straw yellow to marigold): home sold for $820 less on average

Bathrooms: 

•  Blue/purple (light powder blue to periwinkle): home sold for $5,440 more on average
• White/no color (off-white or eggshell white): home sold for $4,035 less on average

Bedrooms: 

• Blue (light cerulean to cadet blue): home sold for $1,856 more on average
• Pink (light pink, to antique rose; often found in kids rooms): home sold for $208 less on average

Dining Room: 

• Blue (slate blue to pale gray blue; navy blue also found in dining rooms with white shiplap): home sold for $1,926 more on average
• Red (brick red, terracotta, or copper red): home sold for $2,031 less on average

 Living Room:

• Brown (light beige, pale taupe, oatmeal): home sold for $1,809 more on average
• Blue (pastel gray, pale silver to light blue, periwinkle): home sold for $820 less on average

Home Exterior:

• Gray/brown (greige — mix of gray and beige): home sold for $1,526 more on average
• Brown (medium brown, taupe, or stucco): home sold for $1,970 less on average

Front Door:

• Gray/blue (navy blue to dark gray or charcoal): home sold for $1,514 more on average 

SEE ALSO: Zillow is launching a new site just for millennials looking for their first home

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: These houses can survive natural disasters

Dick Cavett, longtime talk show host and entertainment icon, is offloading his estate in Montauk, New York.

Known as Tick Hall, it was built in 2001 after the original home on the 20-acre property burned down in 1997. 

Now Cavett is looking to sell the plot he's owned for 50 years, and he's listed it for $62 million. In an email to the Wall Street Journal, he said that offering up the estate was "the hardest thing in the world to do."

The Corcoran Group has the listing.

SEE ALSO: The Obamas just shelled out $8.1 million for the DC mansion they've been renting since leaving the White House

Tick Hall lies on 20 acres of property in Montauk, New York, on the far eastern end of Long Island.

It's surrounded by 77 acres of preserved land that Cavett sold to a government consortium for $18 million in 2008.

The home is clad in the classic Hamptons slate shingle siding.

There are plenty of legendary addresses in New York City, but 15 Central Park West stands out. The ultra-luxury condominium on the corner of West 61st St. and Central Park West has been home to a long list of bankers, celebrities, and assorted bold-faced names.

Author Michael Gross, who published a history of the condo called "House of Outrageous Fortune" in 2014, calls it the world's most powerful address.

Business Insider took a peek inside the famed address. Compass has listed unit 8B for $33 million. The 5 bedroom, 4.5 bathroom home is coveted real estate even inside the building — it has nearly 50 feet of unobstructed views of Central Park and the New York skyline.

The home was staged by luxury staging firm Interior Marketing Group.

Join the conversation about this story »

When it comes to real estate, location is almost everything. But in cities like New York, San Francisco, and Miami, buyers will also pay a premium for another feature: the view.

In Manhattan, the most coveted and costly view is of Central Park. With a median listing price of $3.79 million, homes with a view of the park carry a premium of 39.9%, according to Realtor.com.

Mike Tauber has been exploring these sights for 15 years as an interior and architecture photographer in New York City. He's photographed tens of thousands of homes and their views, and he recently collected them in a book called "Vista Manhattan: Views from New York City's Finest Residences."

Below, see nine stunning views captured by Tauber from penthouses across New York City. 

SEE ALSO: Inside the 'paparazzi-proof' building where penthouses are selling for $55 million

Tauber is usually hired by real estate agents, architects, interior designers, or homeowners to photograph these spaces.

One of Tauber's favorite views comes from a $57 million penthouse at The Pierre. "It has a great perspective on Central Park where you can see people hanging out in Sheep Meadow in the foreground and then across the Upper West Side into New Jersey," Tauber said.

Source: StreetEasy

Tauber photographs luxury buildings that range in price. While this penthouse at 50 Sutton Place sold for $4.36 million in 2016 ...

Source: Streeteasy

Despite surging home prices across the US, it's still possible to snag something affordable in a great city.

As evidenced by U.S. News & World Report's latest ranking of the best places to live in America, the top cities for settling down tout a strong job market, low cost of living, high quality of life, and affordable housing to boot.

To find out which of the top-50 best places to live have home costs on par with the national median listing price, we filtered the ranking for cities where the median home costs $250,000 or less.

Below, check out the top-25 cities and their median home prices.

SEE ALSO: The 50 best places to live in America

DON'T MISS: Home prices are soaring — here's how much the average home costs in the 15 most popular big cities

25. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Population: 1,318,408

Median home price: $149,646

Quality of life: 6.1

Value: 7.5

Oklahoma City's warm weather and low housing prices make it an up-and-coming place to live. Due to a recent inundation of millennials, the city now brims with energy, creativity, and new ideas, according to a local expert.

"The community's greatest asset is its people," he said. "The community is tight-knit, willing to offer a friendly hello, and ever aware that their city is really a small town at heart."

24. Tampa, Florida

Population: 2,888,458

Median home price: $170,495

Quality of life: 6.6

Value: 5

Tampa's laid-back atmosphere, warm weather, and barrage of entertainment options make it feel like a trip to paradise. "Living in the Tampa Bay is like being on vacation all year," said a local expert.

Tampa hasn't been overtaken by tourists, however. It retains several niche communities, including a strong Cuban influence in historic Ybor City, formerly known as the "cigar capital of the world."

23. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

Population: 558,198

Median home price: $83,500

Quality of life: 7.1

Value: 7.5

Located on the banks of the Susquehanna River and the foothills of the Appalachian Trail, Harrisburg offers residents unlimited access to the outdoors. Many are employed by the state and federal government in Harrisburg, but there's also several large private-sector companies that are top employers, including Hershey's, Rite Aid, and D&H Distributing.

For nine years, an enormous mansion in San Francisco has sat idly on the market.

Despite the lack of interest, its owners have added millions to the asking price.

2820 Scott Street is a seven-bedroom, 11-bathroom villa located in San Francisco's ritzy Cow Hollow neighborhood — within a stone's throw of "Billionaire's Row." A listing first popped up in 2008for $27.5 million. As time went by and real estate prices in San Francisco soared, the owners of 2820 Scott Street raised the asking price in order to keep up with the market.

For a whopping $29.5 million, this slice of Italian heaven could be all yours.

SEE ALSO: Go inside the most expensive home in San Francisco, a $40 million mansion on Billionaire's Row

San Francisco is known for its stunning Victorian-style homes.

What it's like to live inside one of the iconic "Painted Lady" homes in San Francisco »

2820 Scott Street is not one of them.

It's located just two blocks north of Broadway in the Pacific Heights neighborhood, which has been called "Billionaire's Row" for its concentration of old money and tech execs.

Take a tour of San Francisco's "Billionaire's Row"»

Despite winning the presidential election last fall, Donald Trump's New York City properties have hit a losing streak. Trump-branded hotels and condos throughout the city have seen a sharp decline in event bookings and property values. And at the 55-story Trump Palace at 200 East 69th Street, one of the tallest towers in the neighborhood, the average unit sits on the market for 107 days, 35 percent longer than the average luxury unit. To combat declining property values, an apartment owner at Trump Palace has written a letter asking neighbors to come together and remove the name "Trump" from the building, as the Hollywood Reporter discovered.

Since 2003, Laurence Weiss, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, has owned a 3,600-square-foot, four bedroom apartment at Trump Palace. For the last two years, he's attempted to sell his apartment and has seen the value drop from $15 million to its current asking price of $8.9 million. His letter to fellow owners reads, "The problem is real and will not go away anytime soon…We, the owners can change the name if ⅔ of us agree. I am asking you to support my effort to remove the name Trump from the building and change the legal name from Trump Palace Condominium to 200 E 68th St. Condominium…"

Trump SoHo, a hotel-condominium located at 246 Spring Street, has also suffered financially in the aftermath of Trump’s election. As 6sqft previously covered, what once were $700-per-night rooms now go for under $400 per night. While last year the hotel booked 29 large corporate events, just 11 events were booked this year with fewer big-name groups in the same time frame. And although Trump’s New York real estate has taken some hits, room rates at the Trump International Hotel in D.C. have risen and the membership fees at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort have doubled.

Liberal pundit Keith Olbermann sold his apartment at Trump Palace last September, taking a loss of $400,000. He bought the unit for $4.2 million in 2007 and sold it in 2016 for $3.9 million.  At the time, Olbermann famously tweeted, "FREEEEEEEEE!" and "got out with 90% of my money and 100% of my soul!"

Weiss said he sent out 260 letters and received just 56 responses, with 32 owners who want to change the name and 24 against it. He told the Hollywood Reporter he’s not that optimistic his letter will do much to change the name. "I am as embarrassed as anyone to be associated with Trump, but if it is affecting my property values, I said, why not try?"

SEE ALSO: Stunning photos show what it's like to live at the top of New York City

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: A penthouse owned by Trump's trust is on the market for $35 million — here’s a look inside

Home is where the heart is, so the saying goes. For homeowners, their home is also where they probably invested a large chunk of their money.

In some places homeownership has proved to be a worthwhile investment, as the home values skyrocket. But in other places, depressed home values and high property taxes may have made owning a home less worth it.

In order to determine the best cities for homeowners, we looked at four factors.

Specifically, we looked at the one-year median home value change, the six-year median home value change, the property crime rate per 100,000 residents and the average effective property tax rate. To get a better understanding of where we got the data and how we put it together, check out our data and methodology section below.

Key findings

• The Centennial State— Colorado cities claimed two of the top three spots in our study of the best cities to be a homeowner. Denver and Aurora finished first and third, respectively.
• Satellite cities— Many of the cities in our top 10 are satellite cities or suburbs of a larger city. Aurora, Fremont, Irvine, Arlington, Gilbert and Chandler all fit this profile.
• Midwest tanks — Four out of the five cities that received the worst rankings are in the Midwest. The biggest culprit for this is declining home values. In Milwaukee, for example, median home values declined by over 15% from 2010 to 2015. And in Cleveland, that decline was close to 20% over the same time period.

Data and methodology

In order to find the best cities to be a homeowner, we gathered data on the 100 largest cities. We considered the following four metrics:

• One-year median home value change. This is the percent change in the median home value from 2014 to 2015 and is meant to measure the short-term change in home values. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 and 2015 5-Year American Community Surveys.
• Six-year median home value change. This is the percent change in the median home value from 2010 to 2015. This metric measures the long-term change in home values. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2010 and 2015 5-Year American Community Surveys.
• Average effective property tax. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau's 5-Year American Community Survey.
• Property crime rate per 100,000 residents. This is the number of property crimes per 100,000 residents. The property crime data comes from FBI's 2015 Uniform Crime Reporting Program and from local police departments and city websites.

We ranked each city across each of the four metrics, giving an equal weighting to each metric. We then averaged each ranking. Next, we applied a score to each city based on its average ranking. The city with the highest ranking received a score of 100 and the city with the lowest ranking received a score of 0.

SEE ALSO: The 25 best places to live where the average home costs less than $250,000

DON'T MISS: The 22 best places to live in America if you want to make a lot of money

9. TIE: Chandler, Arizona

Another suburb of Phoenix, Chandler is great for homeowners for many of the same reasons as Gilbert. Home values in Chandler rose 5.17% from 2014 to 2015. That's the 14th-largest increase in our study. Property taxes are also very affordable. Homeowners in Chandler pay an average effective property tax of only 0.67%, one of the lowest in the study.

9. TIE: Boston

With a population of 650,000, Boston is the second-largest city to crack out top 10. Homeowners here will appreciate the increasing home values and low property taxes, especially considering how expensive buying a home can be. The median home in 2015, for example, cost almost $400,000. For the Bostonians who managed to buy a home, they saw median values rise 3.72% from 2014 to 2015. That's the 30th-fastest rate in our study. Plus, if you own a home in Boston, you can expect to only have to pay an average effective property tax of 0.77% — a top 20 rate in our study.

8. Santa Ana, California

Hopefully if you bought your home in Santa Ana sometime around 2010, you have not sold it yet. The median home value in Santa Ana was down 13% over the period from 2010 to 2015. However, home values now look to be trending up. They rose 5.19% between 2014 and 2015. Santa Ana also offers homeowners an effective property tax rate around 0.7% and a low property crime rate of only 2,155 per 100,000 residents.

The magnificent house-price bubble in Toronto, which has raised eyebrows even across the jaded asset-bubble world, is hissing hot air.

Residential property sales in Greater Toronto plunged 20% in May year-over-year to 10,196 homes, according to the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB), with sales of condos dropping 6.4% and sales of detached homes plunging 26.3%.

At the same time, new listings – the new supply suddenly coming out of the woodwork – soared nearly 50% year-over-year. The report tried to put a positive spin on it: "Homeowners, after a protracted delay, are starting to react to the strong price growth we’ve experienced over the past year by listing their home for sale to take advantage of these equity gains."

And it has already impacted prices. The "TREB MLS Average Price" for all types of homes, dropped 6.2% from April to C$863,910. It remains up 14.9% year-over-year, given the crazy surge in prices over the past months, including the 33% year-over-year gain in March, when prices had gone totally nuts!

What pulled the rug out from under Toronto’s magnificent housing bubble? Three factors:

One, Canada’s largest alternative mortgage lender, Home Capital Group, which caters to new immigrants and subprime borrowers spurned by the banks, has been melting down after a run on its deposits that crushed its funding sources. And now the industry is worried about contagion.

Two, the provincial government of Ontario announced a laundry list of measures, including a 15% tax on purchases by non-resident foreign investors, to tamp down on the house and condo price bubble that left many locals unable to buy even a modest home.

And three, a newly found sense that somewhere out there, hidden behind all the industry hype, lurks reality.

May was the first full month of housing data since those three factors took effect.

"In effect, the market has stalled and is rapidly reversing from a seller’s to a buyer’s market," said one of two sets of boots on the ground in Toronto. Neither of them wants to be identified. "Sellers are in a panic to offload their properties, especially those who have speculated in flipping homes. And buyers are starting to open their eyes."

Given the soaring listings in May, boots-on-the-ground said, it’s "now common to see several properties with For-Sale signs next to each other." 

The real estate industry is still trying to get buyers to bid above asking price, by making them believe in ongoing bidding price wars, but the phenomenon of multiple buyers desperately bidding fantasy numbers on a property has disappeared.

"In a recent sale, the listing agent instructed the buying agents to wait one week after the house was on the market before placing their bids," boots-on-the-ground said. "The sold price was C$50,000 above listing. But there was only one bid. The family who bought the property paid above the asking price not realizing they were the only bidder, and not realizing that the party was over."

Homes are starting to languish on the market – a rarity in past years. As recent as March, properties were selling before or just after they were listed on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). The listing agents would utilize the phrase "Coming Soon" on the sign. The homes would be snapped up. But that changed in late April.

How long homes have been on the market can be viewed on the housing website Zoocasa by searching from "oldest to newest," boots-on-the-ground pointed out. For homes listed "3 months ago," the inventory starts adding up, and for homes listed "2 months ago," the inventory gets rich and thick.

When the market was hot, there was no need to have open houses. However, now open houses are conducted not just on weekends, but even during the week, boots-on-the-ground said. "It seems that brokers have their work cut out as clients want their property sold immediately at top price, but it’s not working anymore."

After not getting a single visitor to an open house over the weekend, Carissa Turnbull, a Royal LePage broker in Oakville (GTA), told Bloomberg: "We are seeing people who paid those crazy prices over the last few months walking away from their deposits. They don’t want to close anymore."

Century 21 Millennium brokerage owner Joanne Evans, focused on Toronto suburbs such as Brampton, summed it up this way: "The frenzy is over – it’s over."

SEE ALSO: Vancouver's mortgages are rapidly deteriorating in quality

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