10 Cities Where Your Dream Home Is Still Affordable
We're talking under $350K.
There was a time, not too long ago, when a million-dollar home was something of a rarity reserved for the wealthy. But then the pandemic swept in and messed with everything, including the housing market. Suddenly, basic builder-grade homes were listed for half-a-million dollars. No small price, especially for first-time homeowners.
But that doesn't mean that you'll be left renting forever. In fact, you can snag a charmer and still have money for furniture, especially if you're willing to put in a little bit of reno work.
"Affordability is the biggest story happening in the housing market right now," says Amanda Pendleton, home trends expert at Zillow, a leading real estate website. "Remote work has opened up more opportunities. Whether that is hybrid or fully remote work, people have more options today than they did prior to the pandemic."
That means you could conceivably work in an expensive city, but live in one of these metro areas where Pendleton says you can find "great gems." In the ten cities listed below, you can buy a top-tier home for less than $339,366, the value of a typical American home. (In comparison, a typical U.S. top-tier home is worth $642,329, according to Zillow data.) She adds, "Your money goes a lot farther," in these spots.
Elizabeth Finkelstein, cofounder of Cheap Old Houses, concurs. Whereas during the pandemic people moved to the sunbelt in droves, it's now the more budget-savvy midwest and parts of the northeast that are drawing attention. "People are chasing that affordable home, and it is leading them to different places," Finkelstein says. "With current mortgage rates, it is really hard to upgrade, people feel trapped in that starter home, and may start asking, 'Where can I get the home I really want? Maybe it’s not in my city or even my state?'"
Interest in hot spots like Phoenix, Arizona, and Raleigh, North Carolina, has been replaced with curiosity about smaller locales such as Syracuse, New York, and Peoria, Illinois. These often overlooked cities brim with one-of-a-kind historical homes thanks to their land banks, non-profit organizations that work with the city to rehabilitate properties and neighborhoods. And remember, these 10 cities are places where a house tops out at $350,000. With a bit of digging you can find a Tudor-style home under $75,000 in Toledo, Ohio, or a Victorian row house in Wheeling, West Virginia, that clocks just under $100 grand.
Even if you're not into rolling up your sleeves for a fixer-upper, there are still plenty of options for beautiful, move-in ready homes. We teamed up with Zillow and Cheap Old Houses to give you a list of top 10 dream home destinations with affordable housing you will love. But you'd better move fast before word of these great deals gets out.
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