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.”

  • ECB@feddit.org
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    5 months ago

    Housing shouldn’t be an (in real-terms) appreciating asset. In the long run that just leads to feudalism.

    Imagine if everything keeps appreciating for 200 years… now only cyborg Elon musk can afford to buy a house.

    • ryathal
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      5 months ago

      With finite land, it’s never going to not be appreciating.