The number of US cities where first-time homebuyers are faced with at least a $1 million price tag on the average entry-level home has nearly tripled in the past five years, according to new research.

A Thursday report from Zillow indicates that a typical starter home is now worth $1 million or more in 237 cities, up from 84 cities in 2019, underscoring America’s ongoing home affordability crisis.

“Affordability has been strained across the board,” Orphe Divounguy, a senior economist at Zillow, said. “We see the largest number of million-dollar starter homes in expensive coastal markets. We see them in markets with very low homeownership rates and we see them in markets with more building regulations.”

  • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    My mortgage payment is $1k at 3.5% interest. That is a 15 year mortgage that I have 5 years left on and the payment includes escrow (taxes and insurance) it was in the $850/$900 range but taxes and insurance have increased.

    This is a 4 bedroom/2.5 bath with a 3+ car garage in a small town near a largish college town which is 15 minutes away.

    We may be getting an advanced transportation research facility as well.

    https://ict.illinois.edu/in-the-news/U-of-I-autonomous-vehicle-track-is-building-the-future-of-mobility

    There are “better” communities in the surrounding area with much higher prices due to very high school rankings.

      • PriorityMotif@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        To be fair my home value has doubled and my taxes and insurance are only going to keep going up. If I sell I’ll be in the same boat as you and probably couldn’t afford to buy something else.