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Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.
Where, oh where are all the affordable homes? With the national median home price hovering around $415,000, weary shoppers may feel like they have a better chance of finding a castle in the air.
But a new analysis from Realtor.com shows there are a handful of big cities where homebuyers can still make a purchase for $200,000 to $350,000. Even better: The number of homes for sale in this range shot up more than 20% in February compared to the same time last year.
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Even with mortgage rates and home prices poised to cool a bit this year, affordability will remain a challenge for the average buyer in 2024. As of last month, homebuyers need a household income of about $106,500 a year to afford the monthly mortgage payment on a typical home, according to a recent report.
But Realtor.com’s analysis shows that the circumstances aren’t so bad everywhere, and there are actually more affordable homes now compared to a year ago. A “growth spurt” in listings between $200,000 and $350,0000 in February outpaced all other price categories.
The major metropolitan areas with the greatest share of listings at this price tier are mostly in the South, which the Realtor.com report says now accounts for more than half of the country’s available affordable inventory. The median for listings in this range is about $285,000, a whopping $130,500 less than the current national median.
Miami and Tampa, Florida saw the most growth in this range, even though the median home prices in these cities are pretty high at $550,000 and $416,000, respectively. Florida is home to 18% of the country’s supply of listings within the affordable price range, Realtor.com Chief Economist Danielle Hale said in the report.
What can homebuyers get within this range? Miami and Tampa offer mostly attached homes, meaning condos, townhomes and row houses. Those looking for single-family homes can find budget-friendly options in Texas — specifically Dallas, San Antonio and Houston.
10 cities with the most affordable homes
The cities with the greatest shares of affordable homes are mostly in the South. These are the 10 big cities with the most listings between $200,000 and $350,000:
Miami, Florida
Dallas, Texas
Tampa, Florida
San Antonio, Texas
Houston, Texas
Orlando, Florida
Atlanta, Georgia
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
New Orleans, Louisiana
Birmingham, Alabama
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