The price of a newly built home reached $423,000 in January, according to Realtor.com, but havens of lower-cost new construction in the Sun Belt and Midwest could offer affordability for some house hunters. The top metro with the least expensive new construction is Jacksonville, North Carolina, where land prices are low, availability is high, and new builds average roughly $270,000. Not only is the Jacksonville market strengthened by relative affordability, but also by an influx of second home buyers and remote workers flocking to its warm beaches.
Just across the state border, Greenville, South Carolina is the second most affordable market for new construction with a median sale price of $288,268, followed by Oklahoma City, where newly built homes are selling for a median price of $290,000, Realtor.com reports.
And as people are taking advantage of flexible work situations—or just signing up for the Great Resignation—more are moving to affordable areas where their money goes further. Builders are also putting up homes in these places to meet demand.
“There’s been a clear shift in location preferences,” says Rose Quint, assistant vice president of survey research at the National Association of Home Builders. “A segment of buyers have decided they want to move to the suburbs or outer areas, and builders are responding.”