Lower-budget homebuyers are increasingly gravitating toward markets where their dollars can stretch further.

Several attractive metro areas still offer median home prices under $300,000 – well below the $425,000 national median. These areas provide more affordable paths to homeownership without sacrificing lifestyle or big-city conveniences, according to Realtor.com.

“In these markets, home prices are more closely aligned with local incomes, allowing the typical household to afford the typical for-sale home,” said Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com. “The existence of these affordable areas, even if limited, offers encouraging news for buyers committed to purchasing in one of these regions.”

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Here are the top 10 desirable metros where homebuyers can still find prices under $300,000:

Muncie, Indiana

Median list price: $184,900

Median household income: $56,828

Muncie, located about an hour from Indianapolis, is home to Ball State University and outdoor attractions including the 750-acre Prairie Creek Reservoir.

Toledo, Ohio

Median list price: $199,900

Median household income: $63,133

Roughly 60 miles from Detroit, Toledo features a prominent arts scene anchored by the Toledo Museum of Art.

Battle Creek, Michigan

Median list price: $224,950

Median household income: $59,424

Battle Creek, located about two hours from Detroit and three hours from Chicago, was recently ranked the fifth-best city in the U.S. for veterans to live, according to Realtor.com.

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Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Median list price: $245,000

Median household income: $72,935

Located in western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh is home to major professional sports teams – the Steelers, Penguins and Pirates – and has a strong tech presence.

Cleveland, Ohio

Median list price: $250,000

Median household income: $68,695

Along the southern shore of Lake Erie, Cleveland offers lakeside parks, as well as a growing culinary scene and arts community.

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Median list price: $260,000

Median household income: $63,615

Roughly 100 miles from both New York City and Philadelphia, Scranton features breweries, historic theaters and is featured as the home city of the fictional company Dunder Mifflin from “The Office” television show.

Buffalo/Cheektowaga, New York

Median list price: $259,900

Median household income: $71,055

Founded in 1832, Buffalo is two hours from Toronto and is home to more than a half-dozen Frank Lloyd…

Australian bauxite producer Metro Mining (ASX:MMI,OTC Pink:MMILF) is positioning for significant growth as global demand for aluminum continues to surge. CEO Simon Wensley noted that the company has aggressively scaled production, growing from 2 million tonnes annually in 2021 to a consistent rate of roughly 7 million tonnes this year.

He said this expansion is key because the company’s “fixed costs are probably upwards of 80 percent of (its) total costs,” and spreading those costs over higher volumes is lowering per-tonne production costs.

“That expansion has allowed us to offset those fixed costs against a larger production base. And so what you see then is our cost of production going down,” Wensley said.

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“If we can implement all of these expansions and all of the improvement programs that we have underway, next year … we’re targeting to be the lowest-cost supplier into the Asia-Pacific market, and we’re on track to be able to do that.”

Bauxite is essential for producing aluminum, a metal seeing rapid demand increases from transportation, renewable energy and grid infrastructure. With aluminum usage expected to grow more than 120 percent under the World Bank’s scenario, Metro sees long-term strength in the market.

Watch the full interview with Wensley above.

The 30% rule — one in which potential homebuyers limit their mortgage payment to 30% of their monthly income — is a common standard that homebuyers typically follow so that the yearly cost of a home doesn’t put too much of a strain on their finances.

However, according to a new report from Realtor.com, places where homebuyers can follow that recommendation when buying a home are becoming fewer and farther between in the country’s major metropolitan areas. 

Affordability in just three of America’s 50 top metro areas is such that households that make the median income can scoop up a home that won’t go above 30% of their yearly earnings, the report found. 

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Realtor.com said it determined the three major metro areas where the 30% rule remains feasible by “using a standard 20% down payment and May’s average mortgage rate of 6.82%.” It also factored in tax and insurance.

Those metro areas were Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, Michigan; and St. Louis, Missouri, the real estate marketplace said. 

Median yearly household incomes in those cities were $72,935, $72,493 and $79,869, respectively, according to the report. 

In Pittsburgh, the proportion of a household’s median annual income required to be capable of footing a $249,900 home in the area was 27.4%. The report pegged the amount that a household would need to pay for the mortgage, tax and insurance per year at $19,970.

Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, meanwhile, utilized 29.8% of a household’s annual income for a home asking the median of $270,000 in May, according to Realtor.com. The yearly mortgage payment, tax and insurance would amount to $21,576.

Households in the St. Louis area are capable of covering a median home’s associated payments with 30% of their yearly income, the real estate marketplace reported.

Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in a statement that while “a few” Midwestern markets “still offer a path to homeownership for the median-income household who can make a 20% down payment,” it “remains out of financial reach without significant changes to either housing…