The $1.7 Million Difference

Although both are waterfront cities, something besides the salt water separates La Jolla, California from Sioux City, Iowa on the Missouri River – a $1.7 million dollar difference in the cost of homes studied in the 2008 Coldwell Banker® Home Price Comparison Index. In an annual comparison of similar homes in 315 U.S. markets, La Jolla topped the chart as the most expensive real estate market in the nation with a $1,841,667 average home price. Sixteen hundred miles away in America’s heartland sits Sioux City, the most affordable real estate market in America, where a similar home would cost $133,459.
Not too surprisingly, eight out of ten of the country’s most expensive housing markets are in California, and eight Midwestern cities make the list of the nation’s 10 most affordable markets.
The annual Coldwell Banker report provides an apples-to-apples comparison of similar 2,200 square foot, four-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath homes in 315 markets across the United States, in addition to Puerto Rico, Canada and a sampling of countries/territories outside of North America where Coldwell Banker has a presence.
Using this study, prospective home buyers and sellers can calculate what their homes may be worth in other areas in the United States.
La Jolla edges out Greenwich, Conn. ($1,787,000) and other West Coast markets as the most expensive U.S. market in the study. Also on the East Coast, Boston, Mass. ranks as the ninth most expensive ($1,493,750). Beverly Hills was the most expensive studies U.S. market last year at $2.21 million. Note: Manhattan was not included in New York City because of the lack of comparable single-family homes.
For full details and to find out what your home would be priced elsewhere in the country, go to the Coldwell Banker Price Index site.