The election has captured our attention for so long, it might be time to readjust our priorities and remember the things that affect us everyday. For example, house values and the price we need to pay per each square foot of living space. We invite you to come back to reality with us, and check out a list comparing the price per square foot in some of the biggest 50 cities across the US.
We’ve crunched the numbers for you, and here’s what they told us at a glance:
- Forget about finding something decent for $300,000 in the first 20-something cities in the US. Start with Dallas, TX if you’d like an average house for that price.
- An average sized home in Manhattan would cost upwards of $3,000,000 – over ten times as much as the median listing price. For that kind of money, you could buy a 1,700 square foot home in Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Los Angeles each!
- For the price of one median-size home in San Francisco, you could buy homes in Phoenix, Mesa and Tucson AZ, Portland OR and a pad in Vegas, and a snazzy $169,490 sports car to drive from one estate to the next.
- $300,000 can buy you 4 median sized houses in Detroit.
- You can buy two median sized homes and a 1,000 sq. ft. condo in Memphis for the median price of a median home in the US.
Mouse over the squares in the chart below to find out exactly how many square feet you get for $300,000, in each of the 50 cities we studied. The areas dedicated to each city are proportional, so you get an at-a-glance perspective on the sheer size differences $300,000 could afford you from city to city.
Numbers talk: how does square footage reflect value?
Why $300K? On the one hand, because it’s the first round figure close to the national median listing price, and on the other hand, because according to forecasts for the next year, the market is headed there. We considered 1,700 square feet — the median living space in the US according to the Geography of Home Size and Occupancy report published by the National Association of Home Builders in 2011 – as a comparison base for our results.
Square footage price isn’t usually used as the only yardstick for home value, since location, property type, amenities and other factors play a significant role as well. But it does work very well if you just want to get your bearings and have a general idea about how much value you can get for your money.
To get the square footage you could buy for $300K we used asking prices from our own database, then from sister company PropertyShark, and also from MLSs, and calculated an average price per square foot in each of the cities on our list.
Reality check: what the numbers don’t say
The bottom right corner, the one that you can barely see – that’s what you can buy in Manhattan for $300,000. The top left corner represents what that money will buy you in Detroit. In cold, hard numbers – you can get 42 times more space in Detroit for the same money as you could in Manhattan.
However, since these are median prices, they don’t necessarily apply to real-life properties. The only place we could find for sale in Manhattan for under $300,000 is a storage box listed as an apartment. No comment on whether that’s an elaborate joke or not.
However, with a little mixing and matching, pairing cities from above and from below the line where $300k affords you a median house, and the results are a good reflection of the real-life implications of the numbers.
Miami vs. Las Vegas – modern minimalism versus vast haciendas
Two cities well known for being very entertaining. Both warm, both diverse and both iconic. And yet, in terms of real estate, the similarities stop. According to the data collected, $300,000 would barely afford you 1,000 square feet of space in Miami. On the other hand, that same price could fetch you as much as 2,273 square feet in Las Vegas. The listings available on Point2 Homes in both of these cities tend to confirm this.
See more details about the Miami condo or the Las Vegas family home by clicking their respective links.
Chicago vs. Detroit – chic and charming versus decadent and spacious
Virtually a stone’s throw away from each other, and yet the gaps between these two cities’ real estate markets are worlds apart. The Detroit market, although slowly on the mend, is notoriously low priced. So low, in fact, that the price per square foot in Detroit is the lowest on our list. On the other hand, Chicago sits comfortably in the top half of our list, with prices comparable to Miami and Austin.
See more details about the Chicago home or the Detroit mansion by clicking their respective links.
Dallas vs. Houston – big and balanced
Texas cities are close by in terms of price per square foot. Austin is the most expensive, whereas Dallas and Houston are just two spots apart from each other. We were curious to find out whether the differences between available listings are obvious. As expected, the examples we’ve found are quite similar.
See more details about the Dallas home or the Houston house by clicking their respective links.
Atlanta vs. Columbus – college city stand-off
Atlanta is close to the middle of our list in terms of price per square foot (in fact, it’s only one notch above Dallas). Columbus is the largest city in Ohio, but the real estate market is much lower priced. Which of these famous college towns offers home buyers more “bang for their buck”? Well, in terms of space, Columbus is the clear winner. But the Southern charm that Atlanta offers is not easy to pass by either.
See more details about the Atlanta home or the Columbus home by clicking their respective links.
