The cost of a four-bedroom house -- across the country
Home prices vary a lot across Maryland, and that's just one state. Compare the whole country, and the swings are enormous.
That's what Coldwell Banker Real Estate did recently -- compare prices across the country for a "move-up" house: single-family with four bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and about 2,200 square feet of space total, "in neighborhoods/zip codes within a market that is typical for corporate middle-management transferees."
The company, which crunched numbers for 310 housing markets in the country, said the average was just under $364,000.
The average in Baltimore, Coldwell Banker said, was about $381,000. It didn't specify whether it meant just the city, but I'm guessing so because it also included Towson on the list (at just under $382,000).
Towson and Baltimore were 83rd and 84th, respectively. No. 1: La Jolla, Calif., with an average move-up price of $2.1 million. Least pricey was Grayling, Mich., where you can have that 2,200-square-foot house for under $113,000. (Michigan has the country's highest unemployment rate, so make sure you can find a job there before you go rushing west for a cheap home.)
Eleven markets in Maryland were included. The most expensive was Bethesda, ranked 25th at almost $760,000. Annapolis was 33rd at about $687,000. Least expensive of the Maryland markets: Hagerstown, No. 179 on the list at about $238,000.
Do those prices match up with your sense of what it takes to get a nice four-bedroom?
More than a quarter of the markets in the Coldwell Banker analysis had average prices under $200,000, from Dubuque, Iowa to Rochester, N.Y. to Myrtle Beach, S.C.
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Comments
I wonder how it decided which neighborhoods in Baltimore were "typical for corporate middle-management transferees." Does that mean Canton, Roland Park and (perhaps) Fells Point? Is that it? As far as I know, there isn't a list, official or otherwise, for middle managers about where to live in the city.
Posted by: Justine | October 2, 2009 9:24 AM
I wonder, too. The price could range a lot depending on the neighborhood.
Posted by: Jamie Smith Hopkins | October 2, 2009 9:26 AM
I think it is really neighborhood. I bought a 5 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath renovated 3 story row home for under $180K on the westside.
I picked that one because of the huge difference in space and the tax rate, my taxes are only $75 a year...That made a huge factor in my decision to buy in the city where the tax rate can break your back, and basically add another mortgage on you.
My neighborhood is a little raw, but I am sure it will change...
Posted by: Duane | October 2, 2009 2:35 PM