These four Mississippi beach towns are among the most affordable in US, report says
Homebuyers on the hunt for the most budget-friendly beach towns should look no further than the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Biloxi snagged the top spot for 2021’s “Most Affordable Beach Towns” in the U.S., according to a new SmartAsset analysis.
The financial services website compared 218 oceanfront communities and ranked them using four key indicators: median home value, median monthly property taxes, average number of rooms per home and overall monthly housing costs.
Biloxi, where the median home value is just over $161,700, is one of four coastal Mississippi cities to land high on the list, the report shows. The others are:
- No. 2 Gulfport
- No. 5 Ocean Springs
- No. 6 Bay St. Louis
“Homeowners in the top 10 beach communities on our list take advantage of low property taxes and affordable housing costs,” according to SmartAsset. “Median annual property taxes for these cities are just $1,185 and median monthly housing costs are $746.”
Gulfport came in close second to Biloxi, boasting the fourth-lowest median home value at $122,300, rankings show. Average annual property taxes are fairly lower than other coastal cities at $1,069, with monthly home costs totaling $811.
Ocean Springs, 15 miles east of Gulfport, has “the 15th-lowest median home value at $174,000” and ranks 24th out of 218 U.S. cities for median property taxes at $1,445, according to the analysis. The average monthly housing cost is $1,021.
Bay St. Louis also ranked high in three of the study’s four key metrics. Median home value in the Gulf Coast city is $172,600, while the median property taxes paid annually are $1,140, the report shows. Monthly housing costs are about $782.
SmartAsset found that the best deals on beach homes are found in southern states such as Alabama, Texas and Florida. However, several southern cities still fell to the bottom of the list.
The nation’s least affordable beach towns include Iona, Florida; Venice, Florida; Charleston, South Carolina; Brunswick, Maine; and New Smyrna Beach, Florida, according to the report.
This story was originally published February 1, 2021 at 4:49 PM.