PHOENIX — Three cities in the Phoenix area — Gilbert, Chandler and Peoria — have ranked among the top 20 cities in the nation for first-time home buyers.

Gilbert ranked the highest of all Arizona cities, coming in at No. 10, according to WalletHub.

The town’s affordability ranked it even better among the nation’s cities, putting it at fourth in the nation. However, Gilbert’s quality of life ranked at No. 196 in the nation.

Chandler ranked a little better than Gilbert when it came to the quality of life metric, coming in at No. 125.

But its affordability fell to No. 10 in the nation, ranking behind both Gilbert and Surprise (No. 7).

Peoria and Yuma followed shortly behind in terms of affordability at Nos. 20 and 21, respectively.

Glendale, Mesa and Phoenix ranked at Nos. 28, 29 and 30 for affordability.

The Arizona town with the highest quality of life ranking was Scottsdale, at No. 53 in the nation. The next-closest Arizona city to Scottsdale in terms of quality of life was Chandler, which fell to No. 125 in the nation.

Yuma was the lowest Arizona city on the overall list for first-time home buyers. It ranked at No. 154 out of 300 cities, with an even worse ranking — No. 262 — for quality of life.

While these Arizona cities might seem attractive to those who are looking to purchase a home for the first time, a lot of Valley residents are putting their dreams of owning a home on the back burner.

Andreea Curean with RentCafe told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the Valley has seen a 42 percent increase in families renting a home over the past decade, as opposed to buying one.

“The inability to own a home is pushing people toward renting and that is becoming the norm nowadays,” Curean said.

“During the past five years, single-family home prices went up by 45 percent.”

But that is not all, she added: Rentals have jumped close to 40 percent. The number of young families owning a home over the past decade has also dropped by 12 percent.

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Jeremy Foster contributed to this report.