A new study conducted by Inspection Support Network looks at how much house $350,000 can buy in locations throughout the United States. The median sales price of a U.S. home went from a post-recession low of $208,000 in January 2009, to $329,000 in January 2020, an average increase of $11,000 per year. By January 2021, the median sales price was $347,500, which represented an $18,500 increase over the year prior. However, the median $350,000 sale price does not buy the same size or quality home in every location. Researchers calculated the hypothetical size of a $350,000 home based on each location’s median price per square foot and ranked locations accordingly.
At $145 per square foot, $350,000 is good for a 2,422 square foot home in Kansas. Looking at the 46 states included in the analysis, Kansas gives home buyers the 13th most space for $350K.
As homebuyers search for good deals on real estate, most of the states where their dollar will go furthest are found in Southern and Midwestern states with low cost of living. At the top of the list, according to data from Redfin, is Arkansas, where a $350,000 home would be 3,349 square feet based on median price per square foot, with Indiana (3,167) and Oklahoma (3,049) also topping the 3,000 square foot threshold.
Similar trends hold for many of the cities where $350,000 will buy the most space. The majority of leading locations are Rust Belt cities in the Midwest and other locations with lower cost of living and where there is already a good supply of housing or where housing is fairly easy to build.
Here is a summary of the data for Kansas:
Median sale price: $306,000
Median days on market: 18
Average sale to list price ratio: 96.7%
For reference, here are the statistics for the entire United States:
$350k home size (based on median price/sq ft): 1,847
Median price per square foot: $190
Median sale price: $347,500
Median days on market: 28
Average sale to list price ratio: 100.3%
https://www.inspectionsupport.com/resources/how-much-house-350k-can-buy-in-major-u-s-cities/