How much home can you get for a dollar?

Analysis shows wide variation across US markets

How much home can you get for a dollar?

OK so we don’t buy homes by the dollar, but imagine we did; how much space would that buy?

That’s the basis of an analysis by Zillow Research which looked at median home prices across the US to work out how much home a dollar would buy and how that has changed over time.

"A dollar today isn't what it used to be, particularly when it comes to real estate in light of the rapid pace of home-value appreciation that the American economy has witnessed over the past half-decade," said Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas.

Zillow says one dollar will buy you 1.07 square inches of the typical US home (about the size of a postage stamp), but ten years ago, it would have bought 1.23 square inches, and in 1998, it would have stretched to 2.09 square inches.

But this varies across the country, from San Francisco (0.14 square inches) to Memphis (2.5 square inches).

Home values across the country rose 8% over the past year, and Zillow is forecasting them to appreciate another 6.8% over the next 12 months.

Over the past year, home values in the cities of Baltimore, San Jose, Las Vegas and Dallas appreciated the most. The median US home price is $220,000.

City

Zillow Home Value Indexii (ZHVI)

YoY ZHVI Change

Square Inches for $1 in 1998

Square Inches for $1 in 2008

Square Inches for $1 in 2018

United States

$ 218,000

8.0%

2.09

1.23

1.07

New York

$ 672,200

6.4%

1.01

0.38

0.28

Los Angeles

$ 674,800

7.2%

1.18

0.43

0.31

Chicago

$ 225,600

2.1%

1.58

0.74

0.85

Houston

$ 179,400

7.0%

2.57

1.95

1.40

Philadelphia

$ 150,300

11.4%

3.79

1.55

1.22

Phoenix

$ 232,700

9.0%

2.25

1.12

0.95

Las Vegas

$ 262,200

15.4%

1.82

1.08

0.94

San Antonio

$ 168,600

8.1%

2.62

1.89

1.37

San Diego

$ 623,000

6.5%

1.13

0.50

0.34

Dallas

$ 194,100

13.8%

2.48

1.80

1.04

San Jose

$ 1,110,800

23.5%

0.76

0.37

0.20

Jacksonville

$ 166,500

10.3%

2.67

1.44

1.35

San Francisco

$ 1,366,000

9.2%

0.56

0.24

0.14

Indianapolis

$ 130,700

10.9%

2.18

1.85

1.67

Austin

$ 350,200

7.9%

1.43

1.15

0.73

Fort Worth

$ 185,200

10.4%

2.62

2.09

1.36

Columbus

$ 147,000

9.0%

2.00

1.62

1.27

Memphis

$ 83,300

8.3%

3.13

2.88

2.53

Charlotte

$ 213,400

11.0%

2.03

1.58

1.21

El Paso

$ 124,200

3.7%

2.72

1.78

1.69

Boston

$ 588,000

6.3%

1.01

0.46

0.26

Seattle

$ 753,600

8.1%

1.03

0.47

0.28

Baltimore

$ 117,100

33.2%

2.88

1.21

1.33

Denver

$ 416,100

7.6%

1.33

0.79

0.41

Washington

$ 569,100

5.0%

1.33

0.41

0.28

Nashville

$ 256,700

10.1%

2.12

1.47

0.92

Milwaukee

$ 114,800

10.6%

2.40

1.33

1.50

Tucson

$ 181,000

7.5%

2.18

1.16

1.19

Portland

$ 424,700

0.9%

1.47

0.73

0.48

Oklahoma City

$ 126,400

2.3%

3.51

2.12

1.71

Omaha

$ 167,900

7.6%

1.92

1.53

1.15

Albuquerque

$ 194,300

6.2%

1.76

1.07

1.06

Fresno

$ 231,700

7.1%

2.40

1.07

0.97

Sacramento

$ 318,900

7.3%

1.97

0.97

0.65

Mesa

$ 240,200

7.8%

2.09

1.19

0.96