Austin housing market offers worst bang for the buck in Texas - CultureMap Austin

2022-07-31 08:27:09 By : Ms. Elina Lee

When it comes to buying a home that supplies the most space for the price, Austin has little to offer, a new study indicates.

For the study, real estate platform RealtyHop looked at how much square footage a homebuyer could get for a median price of $350,000 in the country’s 100 largest cities. The study found that in Austin, $350,000 gets a buyer only 1,056 square feet. That makes Austin worst in Texas on the bang-for-your-buck scale, with buyers paying $332.10 per square foot.

Meanwhile, RealtyHop cites San Antonio and Houston as two of the standouts in the U.S. for affordable housing. In nearby San Antonio, a buyer can pick up a 2,116-square-foot home for $350,000, or $165.38 per square foot. In Houston, a buyer can get 1,804 square feet for the same price, or $194.06 per square foot.

Nationally, San Francisco tops the list of least affordable cities. There, $350,000 will get you a measly 349 square feet of space ($1,003.18 per square foot). At the other end of the spectrum, that sum will get you the most space (4,769 square feet, close to the size of a small mansion) in Detroit. That adds up to just $73.39 per square foot.

“For many, the tradeoff between space and cost is a deciding factor on where they choose to settle down. Should you buy a tiny studio in Manhattan or a large townhouse in Atlanta?” RealtyHop observes. “The reality is that living in certain places often means downsizing your expectations.”

Here’s what $350,000 will buy you in the largest cities in Texas, according to RealtyHop:

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