What size house can $200K buy in NJ compared to other states?

What size house can $200K buy in NJ compared to other states?

You’d probably jump at the possibility of buying a nice home in NJ for $200K, wouldn’t you?

While it is almost an impossible feat, there are places in the country where it’s not such a pipe dream.

In some states, $200K can still buy you a fairly nice home.

In the first half of 2023 median home sale prices fell by 13%, down from $479,500 at the end of 2022, which was a historical high.

High interest rates and the economy in general are making this a difficult real estate market with potential homebuyers having to squeeze every penny to buy homes.

But in some places in the U.S., your money can go much further.

24/7 Wall Street decided to find out how much house $200K can buy in every state in the country, using data from the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, they ranked states by approximate square footage of a $200,000 home, from the smallest to the largest.

Then, they used the the median home list price per square foot as well as data on median home value, median number of rooms per house, and median household income.

As home prices rose during the pandemic, the typical size of a $200,000 home declined in much of the country by well over 10% in some states in the last year.

With some of the most expensive real estate in the country, just about nothing but a small condo or home in an adult community sells for $200,000.

$200K buying power in New Jersey

But if you’re curious, here are the statistics that show how much $200K will buy you here In New Jersey.

The approximate size of a $200k house will be 746 square feet. That’s about 1.5% smaller than 1 year ago. That’s also the size of some NJ homeowners’ closets or bathrooms! That’s huge compared with Hawaii, where that $200K house would only be 300 square feet.

By way of comparison, in West Virginia $200K will buy you a 1,600-square-foot house!

So if $200K is your home-buying budget, as many have already discovered, you’d be much better off moving out of NJ. It’s time to look elsewhere.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Judi Franco only.

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