AFFORDABILITY

Austin’s median home sold price crosses $500k

The median home sold price is now north of $500k in 11 of nation's top metros

By Patrick Kearns | Apr 7, 2022

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The Austin metropolitan area is the newest metro to join the half a million club, finishing the month with a median home sold price of at least $500,000. The median home sold price for increasingly pricey Central Texas reaching the watermark means that 11 of the nation’s top 50 metros by homes sold now boast a median home price of at least $500,000, another indicator of the home price boom hitting the market. 

San Francisco surged ahead of San Diego, with a massive swing in median home sold price in March. The median home price in San Francisco hit $1.3 million, according to data from Movoto by OJO, the real estate search site from OJO Labs. That increase represented a year-over-year increase of 16% — after the median home price slightly dipped year over year in February. On a month-over-month basis, the median home price in San Francisco rose 26.8%. 

The increase also drove San Francisco’s unaffordability score — a ratio of homes sold price to median household income — up to 10.3 from 7.9 last month, the biggest increase recorded since OJO Labs began tracking its unaffordability score in July 2021. It’s also the least affordable San Francisco has been since January 2019. 

San Diego, California; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; and Denver, Colorado, rounded out the top five least affordable metro areas in the U.S.

According to the data, Memphis, Tennessee, saw the biggest home price increase of any metro area in the U.S., rising 34.6% year over year. Behind Memphis, Phoenix, Arizona, saw the second-highest year-over-year increase, with the median home sold price increasing 29.9% to $435,000.  

Seattle, Washington, was the biggest mover, climbing six spots to 10th on the list due to a 19% rise in the median home sold price year over year. The unaffordability score for Seattle reached 6 in March, the highest number OJO Labs has recorded since January 2019. Denver, Colorado, also appeared in the top five for the first time since OJO Labs began tracking the data. 

Green Bay-Appleton, Wisconsin, continued to be the most affordable of the top 50 metro areas in the nation in terms of homes sold, but the gap between it and others is narrowing. In March, the median home sold price in Green Bay-Appleton was $150,000, an increase of 3.5% from the year prior — leading to an unaffordability score of 2.2. 

Buffalo, New York; Cleveland, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; and Hartford, Connecticut, rounded out the top five most affordable metro areas in the U.S. 

Nationally, the median annual home price climbed from last month to $374,647 in March. Home prices rose 16.2% year over year in March to bring the national unaffordability score to 4.7, up from 4.4 last month.

Unaffordability score is a ratio that’s derived from monthly median housing prices and median household income. The higher the score, the more unaffordable a metro area is for a household making the median income. Median home price data is drawn from local multiple listing service sold data, and median household income is derived from 2016-19 census data.

Patrick Kearns is the Director of Storytelling at OJO Labs. Prior to joining OJO Labs, Patrick worked as a journalist for more than a decade, most recently covering housing and real estate at Inman News. He’s also written for The Guardian, The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated, Vice, and others.

OJO is a real estate platform that provides support and guidance to match each moment of the home journey, so everyone feels ready, equipped, and inspired to take the next step. Learn more.

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