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Feb. 9, 2023 (Staff Writer)- Home buyers’ mortgage payments have started stretching a bit further in recent months, a new Zillow® analysis shows. 

 

As mortgage rates doubled last year, the home price afforded by a $3,000 payment1 plummeted from $865,000 in January to a low of $560,000 in October. That significantly changed the size and price of homes within a buyer’s reach. On average, a $3,000 monthly mortgage payment today buys a home 140 square feet smaller than a home purchased a year ago.

 

But as rates have dropped from a peak just above 7%, buyers are getting larger homes, with higher price tags, at a fixed monthly cost. The typical home value associated with a $3,000 mortgage payment is up about $60,000 since October and home size has recovered by 84 square feet. 

“Mortgage rates have a huge impact on the types of homes buyers are able to afford. Rates that doubled over the past year carved an extra bedroom or office space off homes at the national level, though the sting has lessened in recent weeks,” said Anushna Prakash, economic data analyst at Zillow. “Buyers in more affordable hot markets are still getting solid bang for their buck, despite losing a lot of purchasing power.”

 

The annual decline is more pronounced in some markets. Hartford saw the largest drop in what $3,000 per month can buy in 2022, losing 1,200 square feet. Buyers in Indianapolis and Cleveland both lost out on more than 1,000 square feet in the last year. Cleveland and Kansas City are among the top 10 metros for home size at this price point and are among Zillow’s 10 hottest markets for 2023

 

Homes in less expensive markets have a larger footprint to begin with, and therefore had farther to fall as climbing mortgage rates applied pressure to buyers’ wallets. As costs rose in 2022, there were more buyers competing in those markets than in their more expensive counterparts. 

 

On the other hand, $3,000 per month has always gotten a buyer less space in pricey markets, but their floor plans are shrinking all the same. In San Jose it will buy a 1,052-square-foot home, down from 1,268 square feet last year. Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco are close behind, with square footage for each below 1,400 square feet.

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Although affordability is still a major challenge, buying power for home shoppers has rebounded in recent months. Since bottoming out in October, home size for a $3,000 payment has increased the most in Salt Lake City (365 square feet), Minneapolis (357), Memphis (346) and Denver (340).

 

Metropolitan Area* Median Square Footage at
$3,000 Payment (Jan. 1,
2023)
Year Over Year
Change in Square
Feet
Square Footage
Increase Since
October
Memphis, TN 3,900 -853 346
Indianapolis, IN 3,732 -1,092 298
Cleveland, OH 3,512 -1,004 265
Oklahoma City, OK 3,406 -802 206
Houston, TX 3,395 -412 213
Birmingham, AL 3,312 -686 198
Richmond, VA 3,283 -538 223
Cincinnati, OH 3,258 -554 218
Kansas City, MO 3,125 -707 171
Atlanta, GA 3,122 -735 259
Charlotte, NC 3,084 -643 284
Detroit, MI 3,081 -595 248
Dallas–Fort Worth, TX 3,068 -707 331
Louisville–Jefferson County, KY 3,063 -769 237
Virginia Beach, VA 3,037 -477 212
St. Louis, MO 3,036 -651 216
Pittsburgh, PA 3,010 -783 207
Minneapolis–St. Paul, MN 3,003 -501 357
Hartford, CT 3,003 -1,202 264
Milwaukee, WI 3,000 -900 300
Buffalo, NY 2,972 -888 242
Columbus, OH 2,912 -626 266
San Antonio, TX 2,871 -534 151
Raleigh, NC 2,866 -779 306
New Orleans, LA 2,847 -314 112
Chicago, IL 2,800 -372 206
Las Vegas, NV 2,741 -527 322
Orlando, FL 2,730 -724 242
Philadelphia, PA 2,680 -860 220
Nashville, TN 2,641 -370 194
Baltimore, MD 2,522 -840 242
Jacksonville, FL 2,494 -409 144
Phoenix, AZ 2,413 -471 287
Tampa, FL 2,402 -342 162
Austin, TX 2,387 -321 223
Salt Lake City, UT 2,285 -727 365
Providence, RI 2,192 -592 200
United States 2,172 -140 84
Washington, DC 2,160 -436 192
Denver, CO 2,140 -698 340
Portland, OR 2,111 -604 293
Sacramento, CA 2,076 -460 338
Miami–Fort Lauderdale, FL 1,977 -459 176
Riverside, CA 1,920 -811 220
Seattle, WA 1,790 -210 206
Boston, MA 1,754 -486 163
New York, NY 1,744 -437 99
San Francisco, CA 1,314 -166 114
San Diego, CA 1,268 -482 226
Los Angeles–Long Beach–Anaheim, CA 1,198 -366 111
San Jose, CA 1,052 -176 149

*Table ordered by median square feet as of Jan. 1, 2023

Mortgage payment assumes the weekly average 30-year fixed mortgage rate from the Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey® and a 20% down payment.
Based on the FICO® Loan Savings Calculator on myfico.com. Rates as of Feb. 7, 2023.
According to the Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI) national raw figure for January 2023.

About Zillow Group
Zillow Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: Z and ZG) is reimagining real estate to make it easier to unlock life’s next chapter. As the most visited real estate website in the United States, Zillow® and its affiliates offer customers an on-demand experience for selling, buying, renting, or financing with transparency and ease. 

Zillow Group’s affiliates and subsidiaries include Zillow®; Zillow Premier Agent®; Zillow Home Loans™; Zillow Closing Services™; Trulia®; Out East®; StreetEasy®; HotPads®; and ShowingTime+℠ , which houses ShowingTime®, Bridge Interactive®, and dotloop® and interactive floor plans. Zillow Home Loans, LLC is an Equal Housing Lender, NMLS #10287 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org). 



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