- Affordable housing is becoming increasingly difficult to find in the US.
- The median home price in the US increased nearly 50% from 2019 to 2024.
- In cities like Akron, Ohio, and Lansing, Michigan, there are still plenty of homes under $200,000.
Finding an affordable home seems all but impossible in this current market, but if you know where to look, you can still find some more reasonably priced homes.
Prices have increased across the board in most markets, pricing a lot of residents out and forcing them to look elsewhere to settle down.
While, individual investors are still buying up properties left and right.
"I don't think there's any place where we are seeing significant price reductions," Realtor.com data journalist Evan Wyloge told Business Insider. "A lot of this list has to do with the baked-in affordability for some of these places."
The Midwest is a recurrent region on this list as it's traditionally been an affordable part of the country. Not a single West Coast city cracked the top ten — simply because there are no affordable pockets out West, Wyloge said.
For a lot of people looking to move into their first home, that $200,000 range has historically been the sweet spot. However, homes haven't hovered around that price point in a while.
According to data from the National Association of Realtors, the median existing home price was $274,500 in December 2019. As of April 2024, that number is $407,600.
"Areas that were once popular for downsizing are now out of reach for many," Realtor.com senior economic analyst Hannah Jones told Realtor. "Florida markets like Lauderdale Lakes are seeing a surge in affordable condos, providing viable options for those looking to downsize without breaking the bank."
Lauderdale Lakes and Lauderhill, both suburbs of Fort Lauderdale, made the list, and their housing supply is almost entirely condos, Wyloge said.
It's not just first-time homeowners seeking out cheap regions, either. Smaller and individual investors are also zeroing in on more affordable areas, many of which saw a population boom between 2010 and 2020, leading to increased rental demand.
Realtor.com scoured the US to find the most affordable cities and ranked them by how many listings they had under $200,000 — excluding land, mobile homes, and cities with less than 100 listings.
