METROS WHERE BIG HOUSES ARE A BARGAIN!
Owning a great home is a cherished goal for most Americans. But take a peek behind the curtains, and a deeper national desire reveals itself: owning a great big home. In a land where size truly matters, plenty of folks dream of living in a place where dogs can roam, kids can scream their hearts out without inflicting familial insanity, and multiple generations can nest. Maybe you can even have room to set up an in-house bar!
Big-house bargains / Claire Widman
But all of that glorious space doesn't come cheap. The typical home over 3,000 square feet costs $589,700-or about $147 per square foot, according to realtor.com® listings data. In desirable neighborhoods of big cities such as New York, that price barely covers the cost of a closet-size, one-bedroom co-op. And let's not even talk about the $809 per square foot people are shelling out in San Francisco.
Fortunately, there are still oversize bargains to be had in some of the nation's more affordable markets -and your trusty realtor.com data team set out to find them! We uncovered the housing markets that offer buyers the lowest cost per square foot on large homes and found a few surprise markets with big-house bargains.
We sifted through realtor.com listings in the first six months of the year to calculate the price per square foot for homes with more than 3,000 square feet. Then we limited the lowest big-home price rankings to one metropolitan area per state to ensure geographic diversity. (Metros include the main city and the suburbs and exurbs surrounding it.)
So where can buyers score the most home for the least cash?
#1. Scranton, PA
Median price per square foot for large homes*: $94.99
Median list price on homes over 3,000 square feet: $379,900
Share of homes over 3,000 square feet: 14.9%
Victorian home for sale in Scranton, PA on realtor.com
Decades of coal mine and industrial plant closures caused an exodus of residents and all types of financial woes for this city, which almost went bankrupt in 2012. The troubles have kept home appreciation from soaring-attracting some home buyers trying to escape expensive Northeast cities.
"A lot of people are coming from New York City," says Sam Scelta, a real estate agent at Century 21 Jack Ruddy Real Estate. Scranton is just 2.5 hours from Manhattan. "They're surprised to find how low the homes and property taxes are."
Sorry, Dunder Mifflin fans: Unlike Michael Scott and his co-workers from TV show "The Office," which was based in Scranton, most folks here aren't in the paper biz. Of the eight largest employers, all are either schools, government, or hospitals.
Folks who want to buy a big, sprawling, historic home with five or more bedrooms should start their search in the Green Ridge neighborhood, where Victorians topping 3,000 square feet range from $150,000 to over $500,000.
And there are things to do in town (and not just "The "Dundies" at Chili's). Skiers can head to the Montage Mountain Resorts, about eight miles from the city's downtown, while history buffs won't want to miss the Steamtown National Historic Site, a very cool railroad museum.
See who else ranked in on the Top 10 List here!
By Lance Lambert
https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/top-10-places-big-houses-bargain/
Lance Lambert is a data journalist for realtor.com. He previously wrote for Bloomberg Businessweek and the Chronicle of Higher Education.
Follow @NewsLambert
Allison Underhill contributed to this report.
* Median price per square foot on homes with at least 3,000 square feet
