Jill Schramm/MDN A house is for sale by owner in Drake. Drake ranks 31st in the top 50 most affordable homes in North Dakota as compiled by UnitedStatesZipCode.org.

Some of the biggest bargains in North Dakota home shopping are in the small communities.

In the Minot area, Wolford, Upham, Drake, Towner and Donnybrook are among the most affordable communities in which to buy a home, according to UnitedStatesZipCode.org., a website that’s all about zip codes. The website uses U.S. Census Bureau data in comparing local home prices and local incomes to define affordability.

Minot homes are not as affordable in the statewide comparison, although ahead of many homes in Grand Forks and Fargo. Minot’s zip codes in the top 50 listed as least affordable were 58703 (19th) and 58701 (22nd).

Realtor Blake Krabseth at Watne Realty said home prices in small towns typically are driven by housing availability and affordability in the larger cities. When the housing supply is scarce or a buyer can’t afford what is on the market, the search will extend outside the city to smaller markets, where housing age, drive time to the city and reduced community amenities can play a part in bringing down costs.

Prices in area towns have weakened in recent months due to Minot’s supply, Krabseth said.

“There’s plenty of availability in all price ranges right now in Minot. When there’s plenty of availability here, then it affects prices in all those smaller communities,” he said.

The amount of mortgage a buyer can afford sometimes drives decisions on where to purchase because small town prices are lower, Krabseth added. Sometimes small towns are attractive for other reasons, such as school system or whether certain dogs might be allowed, he said.

Along with distance from an urban center, home prices in small towns might be lower because the populations often are older. Sellers are less likely to have mortgages, or families may be eager to dispose of property when a parent dies or no longer can live there because of age.

The affordable housing report determined rankings by calculating the Median Multiple, which answers the question, “How many years would it take for the median income to pay off the median home price?” Lower values indicate that incomes in the area are high enough to make it easier to pay off a home. Anything under 3 is considered affordable.

Minot’s 58703 zip code is at 3.4 and 58701 is at 3.3. The North Dakota median multiple is 3.1. That score has risen 3.7% since last year, according to UnitedStatesZipCode.org.

Most of the towns on the most affordable list are quite small. The top five are in northeastern North Dakota. Hansboro, population estimated at 13, in Towner County in northeastern North Dakota sits at the top of the list with Nekoma, population about 48, in Cavalier County. Both scored 0.4. Sarles, population 27, in Cavalier County is close behind. Fourth and fifth are Perth, population 9, and Bisbee, 126, both in Towner County.

The top seven least affordable also are small towns. No. 1 is Lefor, a community of about 84 people near Dickinson that rated a 7.9. Ambrose, population 27, in Divide County, is next with a score of 5.4.

The question arises whether there’s housing available in these tiny towns.

“I think there’s something available in every community,” Krabseth said. However, he added, the bargain house may be true only “for those who want to fix something up or be in a small town.”