Investing in the US? Where are the most affordable markets?

Daily Real Estate News, June 17, 2011

Where Is the Cheapest, Priciest Real Estate?
The difference between the nation's most expensive housing market and the cheapest is more than $2.4 million, which just goes to show where you live can mean a big difference in how much you pay for housing.

The latest Home Listing Report by Coldwell Banker Real Estate offers a list of the most expensive and affordable markets based on its study of average listing prices for four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes listed on coldwellbanker.com between September 2010 and March 2011. The study evaluated more than 2,300 North American markets.

The nationwide average listing price was about $293,000. But the most affordable and expensive markets are far from that national average. The following are lists of the top 5 most and least expensive markets, according to Coldwell Banker’s Housing Listing Report.

Most Expensive U.S. Real Estate Markets

Six of the 10 most expensive real estate markets are in California. Of all of the 2,300 markets studied, 50 housing markets boasted an average listing price of more than $750,000, and 15 markets had an average listing price of more than $1 million. Here are the top five:

1. Newport Beach, Calif. (second year in a row as priciest)
Average listing price: $2.53 million

2. Pacific Palisades, Calif.
Average listing price: $1.60 million

3. Stone Harbor, N.J.
Average listing price: $1.34 million

4. Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.
Average listing price: $1.31 million

5. Saratoga, Calif.
Average listing price: $1.28

Most Affordable U.S. Real Estate Markets

More than half of the markets studied--1,545--had average listing prices less than $300,000. And in 24 U.S. markets, average listing prices were even less than $100,000. Here are the top five most affordable housing markets, according to the survey.

1. Niagara Falls, N.Y.
Average listing price: $60,820

2. Riverdale, Ga.
Average listing price: $61,618

3. Coolidge, Ariz.
Average listing price: $69,083

4. College Park, Ga.
Average listing price: $72,477

5. Detroit, Mich.
Average listing price: $73,363

Source: “Coldwell Banker Real Estate Issues Home Listing Report Ranking More Than 2,300 of North America’s Most Expensive and Most Affordable Housing Markets,” Coldwell Banker (June 15, 2011)


Asif Khan, Sales Representative
Re/Max Hall of Fame
Re/Max All-Stars Realty Inc., Brokerage