Where can a home buyer’s money stretch the furthest? The Rust Belt and Midwest may offer some of the best bargains.
The realtor.com® research team scoured across 500 of the largest metros to rank the ones with the lowest median home prices. The results were limited to one city per state for the purposes of geographic diversity.
“There are a lot of people in that first-time home buyer group looking for starter homes, and they can’t afford it in many top metros,” says Robert Silverman, professor of urban planning at the University of Buffalo in New York. “If they’re mobile, [they can move to] a smaller, affordable community with cheap homes and great amenities.”
Realtor.com® identified the following places as having the cheapest housing markets in the U.S.:
1. Marion, Ind.
- Median home price: $66,750
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (46953): $45,000
2. Danville, Ill.
- Median home price: $69,700
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (61832): $59,900
3. Pottsville, Pa.
- Median home price: $69,900
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (17901): $60,000
4. Bay City, Mich.
- Median home price: $88,900
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (48708): $69,900
5. Weirton, W.Va.
- Median home price: $90,000
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (43952): $85,000
6. Pine Bluff, Ark.
- Median home price: $94,500
- Median home value in the most affordable ZIP code (71601): $25,200
7. Lima, Ohio
- Median home price: $95,000
- Median home price in the most affordable ZIP code (45801): $79,900
View the full list
at realtor.com®.
Source: “Tired of Big-City Squeeze? Score a Bargain in America’s 10 Cheapest Housing Markets,” realtor.com® (Jan. 15, 2018)
