Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC just released its housing survey for 2010/2011 ranking over 2,300 housing markets in the United States and Canada that examined prices for 4-bedroom, 2 bathroom homes.
To no one’s surprise, Newport Beach, California, was the most expensive housing market for the second year in a row, with $2.5 million being the average asking price for home listings meeting the criteria. The cheapest place to buy a home was Niagara Falls, N.Y., with an average home listing price of approximately $61,000.
Newport Beach is known for it’s picture-perfect beaches, celebrities and VIPs, and has an average property cost that is almost $1 million more than the next most expensive market, Pacific Palisades (average listing: $1.6 million).
While Niagara Falls hosts a national attraction and thousands of visitors each year, that was not sufficient to prevent it from being the cheapest place to buy a home in the United States. The average $60,820 four-bedroom, two full bath home in Niagara Falls wouldtranslate into a monthly mortgage payment of $260.
In other news, Georgia has some of the most affordable housing regions, with Riverdale, College Park and Lithonia all included and within 20 miles from Atlanta.
Trend-wise, Americans are buying smaller homes, with the average size of new homes shrinking by about 5% to 2,200 square feet from 2007 to 2010 and far fewer mega-homes being built. The McMansion appears to be falling out of fashion and buyers seek more affordable and practical alternatives.



