The ultimate real-estate guide: Where homes are most affordable, prices have the most upside, taxes and closing costs are lowest, and rents are falling the fastest

• Amid a historically unaffordable housing environment, it's tough to navigate the market.
• Below, we've compiled stories with tips for prospective homeowners, investors, and renters.
• The stories include analyses from firms like CoreLogic, Goldman Sachs, Point2, Zumper, and more.

It's a bizarre time in the US real-estate market.

The hurdle for achieving homeownership is a tough one to jump, with homes being just about the least affordable they've been since the 1980s. Yet, waiting until prices or mortgage rates come down hasn't paid off, as both have shot back upward this year.

Below, we've compiled a list of our stories from the last two months to help you navigate this difficult market.

For new prospective homeowners, some stories include tips on relatively cheap markets to move to. For investors, some include tips on where experts see the best chance for outsized appreciation in the coming years in what many economists say will be a time of muted gains. And for those opting to continue renting since this path is increasingly cheaper than taking on a new mortgage payment, one piece shows where rents are falling the fastest.

So, let's start with the most affordable places in the country to move to right now.

The 15 cheapest cities in the US to buy a home in right now — including 3 where prices are expected to appreciate at least 22% by 2026 — according to Scholaroo

This list from Scholaroo shows where prospective homeowners can find the cheapest combo of prices and property taxes relative to local incomes. Some of the markets even offer high appreciation potential.

These 16 cities offer the cheapest first year of homeownership in the US when considering down payments, taxes, and closing costs, according to Point2

This list from Point2 looks at the same theme, but focuses more just on the first year of homeownership. The analysis factors in down payments, monthly mortgage payments, closing costs, taxes, and insurance.

First-time homebuyers squeezed by the housing shortage should look in these 17 affordable markets that are ideal for young people

This list from This Old House is targeted specifically at young people. It looks at cities where the average cost of "starter homes" is relatively low, especially compared to incomes, and where there is also a substantial young population.

The top researcher at a real-estate intelligence firm shares 5 up-and-coming cities he thinks have the greatest home-price growth potential as new residents and jobs flood in — and the 2 riskiest markets

For investors seeking out markets that could see big home-value growth in the coming years, we interviewed the top researcher at Yardi Matrix, Doug Ressler. He told us about five cities he thinks will see the biggest appreciation as they attract people and jobs.

These 14 cities will see at least 20% home-price growth over the next 3 years, according to Scholaroo — and 5 of them have current median prices under $200,000

This one from Scholaroo is another for investors. They conducted an analysis of 152 US cities where they looked at their yearly home price growth over the last five years and averaged them. They then applied that annualized average to the next three years to come up with a projection for 2026.

The top 20 areas real-estate investors are piling into for high population growth, increasing rental demand, or price appreciation, according to a property-data firm

This piece on an analysis by CoreLogic shows where investors are betting on most right now.

Goldman Sachs lists the 10 major cities where home-price growth is heating up most and 10 where it's falling — plus where mortgage rates could be by year end and in 2024

Earlier in August, Goldman Sachs said they expect home prices on a national basis to grow another 1.8% this year. In this piece, they highlight which cities are driving that growth using the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller 20-city index.

These are the 3 best markets for long-distance real-estate investors to capitalize on both strong cash flows and property value appreciation, according to an expert who's written multiple books on investing strategy

Another one for investors, especially long-distance ones: BiggerPockets Podcast host David Greene shares the markets — all of them in the south — that he thinks look most attractive right now as their populations grow.

Rent growth has plummeted to a two-year low as inflation continues to cool — and apartments in these 38 cities are getting more affordable fastest

For those looking to stay in the rental market for the time being, the above list from Zumper shows 38 markets where rent is actually down on a year-over-year basis when rents nationally are up over that time.