It's an expensive time to buy a home.
At the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the median home price in the U.S. was $280,000. Homebuyers took advantage of mortgage rates below 3% to find great values. These days, things have changed. With mortgage rates above 6% and the median home price clocking in at $425,000, good deals are harder to come by.
But there are still places where typical buyers can find homes. A recent report from Realtor.com has identified the top five U.S. cities with median home prices below $300,000.
"For those that are feeling a little depressed about the state of the housing market in the U.S., it's not chaos everywhere," Ralph McLaughlin, a senior economist at Realtor.com, tells CNBC Make It. "There are isolated pockets of places that still remain relatively affordable on a national perspective."
These affordable cities are mostly in the Northeast and Midwest, with Pittsburgh ranking as the most affordable with a median list price of $245,000.
5 U.S. cities with more homes priced below $300,000
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Median list price: $245,00)
- Detroit, Michigan (Median list price: $277,000)
- Buffalo, New York (Median list price: $277,450)
- Rochester, New York (Median list price: $282,500)
- St. Louis, Missouri (Median list price: $299,900)
"These are all places that over the last 30, 40, 50 years have seen a downward trend in job growth and population growth," McLaughlin says. "That tends to put downward pressure on prices, either causing prices to fall outright or at least to grow much more slowly than the rest of the country. That's what we're seeing here."
Money Report
Get a weekly recap of the latest San Francisco Bay Area housing news. Sign up for NBC Bay Area’s Housing Deconstructed newsletter.
Pittsburgh is one of the country's largest metro areas. The balance of negotiating power there has shifted from a seller's market to a neutral one, according to McLaughlin.
"We are seeing inventory continue to pile up," he says. "We're seeing homes move much slower than they did over the last few years and we're seeing sellers cutting prices."
Detroit, Michigan ranked as the No. 2 metro where homes are still below $300,000. The median list price in the Midwest city is $277,000.
Detroit is another Rust Belt city that was once bustling as the center of the United States automotive industry.
In a housing market like Detroit, potential homebuyers with flexibility can enjoy a high quality of life, McLaughlin says.
"If you're taking a remote job income from a place like New York, San Francisco, LA, or D.C., you could go a very long way in this market," he said.
Want to earn more money at work? Take CNBC's new online course How to Negotiate a Higher Salary. Expert instructors will teach you the skills you need to get a bigger paycheck, including how to prepare and build your confidence, what to do and say, and how to craft a counteroffer. Start today and use coupon code EARLYBIRD for an introductory discount of 50% off through Nov. 26, 2024.
Plus, sign up for CNBC Make It's newsletter to get tips and tricks for success at work, with money and in life.
