Is a house cheaper than a condo? It is in some places in NJ

For many people, the dream is to upsize from a condo to a house, but a new study shines a light on places where a house is cheaper than a condo, and a couple of them are in New Jersey.

The research was done by Point2 to find where in the US upsizing from a condo to a house is the easiest. They analyzed the median price for sold condo and house units in the 200 largest cities, 150 of which happen to be core cities within their metros, as well as 50 that are non-main cities, defined in our study as “secondary.”

Considering the local median household income, we then calculated the price-difference-to-income ratio. Simply put, the equivalent to the number of years’ worth of income that it would take to match the difference between a condo and a detached home. As it turns out, such a move would not only be possible but also profitable in some core cities.

Some of the New Jersey related results:

• Jersey City is among the 20 core cities in the U.S. where houses are cheaper than condos. The net difference between single-family homes and condos is $22,000, making houses 4% less expensive than condos;
• Upsizing from a condo to a detached home is somewhat doable in Newark too. The net price difference is $50,000 (or 18% more than the median price of a condo) – the equivalent of more than 1 years’ local median income;
• Paterson doesn’t make upsizing easy. Houses here are almost twice the median price of condos, with a price difference that comes close to 4 years’ income.

The median house price in Jersey City is $529.000 and for a condo, it’s $551,000.

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

You can now listen to Deminski & Doyle — On Demand! Hear New Jersey’s favorite afternoon radio show any day of the week. Download the Deminski & Doyle show wherever you get podcasts, on our free app, or listen right now.

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.