How Much House?
See how the rest of the country lives. We went house shopping in 14 metro areas to see how far $300,000, $650,000 and $1 million would go. Properties ranged from cozy one-bedroom condos to massive mansions. Plus, appreciation rates, and key stats on each city.
By Erin Burt, Contributing Editor, Kiplinger.com
Lisa Dixon
October 24, 2005
Advertisement
For homeowners in South Bend, Ind., or Topeka, Kan., where home prices hover close to $100,000, talk of a real estate bubble is a lot of hot air. But for a first-time buyer in New York, a 425-square-foot studio going for $300,000 is proof positive of runaway housing costs.
Over the past five years, the national median home price has appreciated 51% and now tops $200,000 for the first time in history, according to the National Association of Realtors.
Prices and demand, of course, vary widely from city to city and region to region. The median home price in the western U.S., for example, is nearly $313,000 -- up 70% in the past five years. But the typical home costs around $700,000 in some areas, such as San Francisco and Orange County, Cal. By comparison, the median home price in the Midwest runs $168,000 -- up 38% in the past five years.
Next year, sales are expected to slow and prices are expected to level off or even reverse in some areas as long-term interest rates climb, editors of The Kiplinger Letter predict. Homeowners should expect about a 4% price increase in 2006, compared with an average gain of 8.5% this year.
If the slowing market has you mulling an upgrade, thinking of downsizing or even considering a move to a different city for a change of lifestyle -- or if you're just curious about how the rest of the country lives -- see our snapshots of what's on the market today. We asked realtors in 14 metro areas to send us representative properties in their hometowns. We didn't want homes sparkling with curb-appeal but trashed inside, foreclosures or homes sitting on toxic waste dumps. We shopped for homes that cost around $300,000, $650,000 and $1 million (without going over).
This sampling was collected in September, and all the homes were either on the market at the time or had been recently sold.
We also compiled median home prices and price-appreciation data for each of the metro areas through the second quarter of 2005, courtesy of the National Association of Realtors, so you can see how local real estate markets fared recently. And we gathered the most up-to-date demographic information from the Census Bureau, such as median household income, population and average commute time.
How Much House Would $300,000 Buy >>
How Much House Would $650,000 Buy >>
How Much House Would $1 million Buy >>