Location Makes Big Difference for Homebuyers
Remote workers who may live anywhere in the U.S. could choose a 374-square-foot San Francisco studio or a 5,109-square-foot single-family home in Detroit.
WASHINGTON – How far you can stretch the U.S. median home sale price of $375,000 depends on what part of the country you’re looking to live in, according to a new report.
That six-figure sum can get you a 374-square-foot home in San Francisco, a 432-square-foot residence in New York City and a 512- square-foot space in Boston, according to a report published Monday by real estate firm RealtyHop.
The median home price could also net you a 677-square-foot space in Washington, D.C. – which isn’t much better than the 784 square feet you could get in neighboring Arlington, Virginia, for the same cost.
Detroit, on the other hand, was found to be the best place to land a home for $375,000. That price could net a 5,109-square-foot house for a buyer in Michigan’s most populous city.
RealtyHop used the National Association of Realtors’ median sale price from March 2023 as the reference point to see how much purchasing power that figure has in the nation’s 100 largest cities. The reports’ authors looked at the square footage for more than 1.5 million listings for sale – from single-family homes and condos to co-ops and townhomes – on its site between January and March to analyze what kind of homes that price point can net buyers.
The Bay area is the region where homebuyers get the weakest bang for their buck. Along with San Francisco, neighboring cities such as Fremont (412 square feet) and San Jose (513 square feet) crack RealtyHop’s top five places where residents get the least amount of home for the median sale price.
The report found that California is the most space-constrained state overall.
Eleven out of the 20 cities with the most expensive price per square foot are in the Golden State, including standouts such as Irvine, Los Angeles, San Diego and Oakland.
The East Coast isn’t spared from this trend.
A $375,000 home in Miami would only cover a cozy 625 square feet. That same amount of cash in Jersey City, situated right across the Hudson River from Manhattan, could get you a 675-square-foot residence.
Other places where the median sale price doesn’t go far includes Honolulu (570 square feet); Seattle (685 square feet); Scottsdale (936 square feet); Denver (1,067 square feet); Austin (1,129 square feet) and Portland (1,144 square feet).
Good-sized homes are more attainable for homebuyers throughout the Midwest and parts of the Southern U.S.
That $375,000 figure can secure spacious houses in Birmingham, Alabama (4,962 square feet); Cleveland, Ohio (4,186 square feet); Lubbock, Texas (3,824 square feet) and Wichita, Kansas (3,723 square feet).
© Copyright 2023 News World Communications, Inc.
