Here’s what a starter home will cost you in every state across the country
A “starter home,” a temporary stop on the way to that coveted “forever home” of the American Dream, is defined by Zillow Z, +0.23% as housing in the lower third of the market in terms of price.
For years, inventory of these smaller, more affordable homes has been drying up amid nosebleed real-estate prices and the younger generation’s penchant for renting — or living longer with parents.
But that’s beginning to change.
In the first quarter of 2019, starter-home inventory rose 3.5% from a year ago – the fastest annual growth rate in more than 6 years, according to Trulia.
That doesn’t mean they’re any more affordable, however. The 10 markets with the largest gains in inventory, like the Bay Area, Seattle and Los Angeles, are also among the nation’s most-expensive housing markets.
To get an idea of where these prices stand now, HowMuch.net crunched Zillow numbers to create this map of home values across the country:
As you can see, the larger the circle, the larger the median home values. The blue outline represents median value of all homes in the state — the thicker the blue line, the greater the difference between starter homes and the overall median.
Here are the most expensive by starter home value:
| 1. Washington, D.C. | $335,700 |
| 2. Hawaii | $331,500 |
| 3. California | $305,300 |
| 4. Colorado | $247,600 |
| 5. Washington | $243,700 |
And the most affordable:
| 1. West Virginia | $42,300 |
| 2. Oklahoma | $50,700 |
| 3. Arkansas | $56,800 |
| 4. Michigan | $58,000 |
| 5. Kansas | $61,200 |