This Alabama city is one of the most affordable housing markets in US
Birmingham is the fourth least expensive city for buying a home in the U.S. among comparable metro areas.
That’s according to an analysis by Home Bay, a California-based real estate brokerage company.
The company looked at data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Realtor.com. Prices and square footage are based on the most recent national data from 2022.
For the 50 most-populous metros, data through June 2023 was used to determine rankings.
It should come as no surprise that home prices keep rising, as does the size of residential homes in the U.S.
According to Home Bay, the median sale price per square foot for new single-family homes across the U.S. has increased 368% since 1980 — from $41 to $192.
At the same time, the median square footage of new single-family homes in the U.S. increased 52% since 1980 to 2022, from 1,650 square feet to 2,383 square feet.
If by chance you’re looking to spend some money, the most expensive city based on the price per square foot is tech mecca San Jose, California, at $845, for a median home price of $1.49 million.
At the other end of the spectrum, Cleveland, Ohio, home of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and broken sports hopes, is the least expensive city based on the price per square foot, at $133 per square foot. It has a median home price of $133,000.
Birmingham ranks as the fourth least expensive city market. According to Home Bay, Birmingham’s median price per square foot in 2023 is $300,346. Median square footage is 1,906, making a median home price of $158,000. By contrast, the national median home price is $410,000.
In addition, Birmingham saw the seventh smallest increase in price per square foot over the last five years, at 29%. The largest increase over that same period happened in Tampa, Fla, where price skyrocketed 72%.