In Some Cities, $177,700 Can Still Buy Some House

• November 2, 2009
• 1 Comment

by Mark Wellborn

3BR Home in Dayton, Ohio. List Price: $175,000

About two weeks ago, we published a post that described how crazy the real estate market in Las Vegas has become. Much of the madness is due to the fact that the median price for a home on the market in the Vegas area has dropped to about $135,000.

While the national median of $177,700 is not quite that low, it is still at bargain-basement levels by DC standards — or the standards of most major metropolitan areas for that matter.

U.S. News & World Report published an interesting piece recently that compared what $177,700 buys you in 10 U.S. cities. While intriguing in concept, the piece does not look at any zip code that would be considered a major metropolis by most people’s definition (Portland, Oregon is the largest city represented on the list). It would’ve been nice to see the difference between what that price gets you in DC or Chicago versus a moderate-sized city in middle America.

Despite that oversight, the article does give you the idea that $178K can still get you a fair amount of house in many places in the U.S. Even in DC you can still get a nicely appointed, new condo for that money, just not a three-bedroom split level.

1 Comment

1. Tom A. said at 3:32 pm on Monday November 2, 2009:

   OMG… Rutland?  It’s also sarcastically known as Rut Vegas.  Look here for a picture of me from a visit there a few months ago:

   http://tiny.cc/qyFff

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