If you live in New York or California, you can easily get the impression that $400,000 will not be enough to buy any sort of home -- but while skyrocketing real estate prices are indeed pushing many out of the market, there are still a number of places in the country where that can get you a house that is bigger than average.
Looking specifically at the cost of a median home and what you can get for that kind of cap-off point, Point2 analysts found that $400,000 can get you 5,882 square feet in Detroit but only 267 in Manhattan. (A typical studio apartment usually ranges between 500 and 600 square feet.)
Other cities which offer more square footage are Cleveland, Ohio (5,128), Toledo, Ohio (4,444) and Wichita, Kansas (3,846).
A Box In Manhattan Or A Big Home In Toledo?
San Francisco offers the least at 400 square feet but New York, with all five boroughs taken together, is not far behind at 449. Boston, Massachusetts (487), California's Fremont (494) and San Jose (510) will offer you the least out of the country's biggest cities.
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That is, assuming that the hypothetical $400,000 studio is even on the market -- in San Jose, the average home price is now at $1.482 million. The news keeps getting worse as $400,000 won't you get more than 600 square feet in any of the country's 10 largest cities.
While they're smaller and mostly far away from popular coasts, Wichita, Kansas; Fort Wayne, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Indianapolis, Indiana are all worth considering for those looking for affordability -- these are all places where $400,000 will get you between 3,000 and 4,000 square feet.
"Thanks to their generous space, homes in these 25 cities might be more appealing to buyers who need and want more square footage," reads the report.
City Life Is Expensive But Many Don't Want It
These types of numbers spell several different pictures -- moving to a less expensive city, getting a starter home and building equity can be a way for first-time buyers who can't afford the sky-high prices of coastal real estate to enter the market. But, with such trends taking place all over the United States, many who grew up in these cities are now being pushed out by newcomers with coastal salaries.
While suburbs have been presented a solution for families who need more space for a cheaper price for decades, the pandemic has been turning this around on its head some of the biggest home price hikes have been taking in family-friendly and city-adjacent towns that are often called the "leafy suburbs."
Realtor.com recently calculated that, in January 2022, people were still searching for homes in the suburbs 42% more than they were pre-pandemic. A study from the Pew Research Center also found that the number of Americans willing to live in a suburb rose from 42% to 46% between 2018 and 2022.
"Although most people know that desirable urban hubs and sprawling living space don’t mix (and many are still willing to accept that compromise) many others want to find out just how green the grass can be on the other side — the suburban side," reads the report. "Recent research suggests that big cities might be falling from grace, with owners who work from home willing to relocate in order to get more bang for their buck."
