CNN —
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.”
Zillow defines a “starter home” as being among those in the lowest third of home values in a given region. California, New York and New Jersey contain the highest number of cities with entry-level homes that carry an average million-dollar price tag, but half of all US states have at least one such city, the report said.
The number of cities with million-dollar starter homes has exploded since 2019
Almost half of the US cities with $1 million starter homes are in California. New York, New Jersey, Florida and Massachusetts also have more than other states.
Table listing the number of cities that have $1 million starter homes, by state.
| State | June 2024 | June 2019 |
|---|---|---|
| California | 117 | 53 |
| New York | 31 | 13 |
| New Jersey | 21 | 2 |
| Florida | 11 | 4 |
| Massachusetts | 11 | 0 |
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