Do Americans own their own houses or do most of them rent? How much does it cost to buy a house?

Question

In big cities, medium cities as well as small towns.

Answer 1

Banks own most of America's homes. We just live in them!
If you're intereseted in home values across America, watch HGTV's What You Get For The Money. The show features a specific price and shows you what the amount will buy in cities and towns across America.
If I'm not mistaken, in NYC, a 600 sq. foot loft is approximately $900,000. I live in a small town in West Virginia. You can buy an acre and a 2000 sq. foot new home for $150,000.

Answer 2

2

Answer 3

most own if they can. They start by buying a small house then a bigger one later. Some only get one.
Cost can start with a condo for $80,000, 3 or 4 thousand down and a loan plus the ability to pay the mortgage. That's about $900 or so a month which is about the same as some rent payments.
Values go up about 5% a year and in a few years they sell and move up.

Answer 4

about 65 percent of Americans own their own homes. The cost to buy a house varies immensely depending on location. In the south, west or midwest, there are many places where housing is very inexpensive, like $25,000 for a little house. In California, the housing is extremely expensive, like $500,000 for the smallest house. On the east coast, it's quite expensive in Boston, New York and Washington, DC. Generally there is some correlation between the job market and housing costs, but not always. I was just reading an article in the Wall St. Journal about homeless people in Hawaii camping out on the beach because an apartment there is so expensive. Ali, are you looking for a place to live?

Answer 5

Originally from New York City, I can attest to the fact that almost everyone rents because of the housing market at the moment. I now live in Philadelphia and it still took me 10 years to save for a house, but house prices are much more reasonable in small-medium size cities.

A good rule of thumb is that closing costs will run approx 2% of your purchase price. In addition, I recommend putting at least 10% down so you can avoid PMI (Primary Mortgage Insurance) fees. Good luck!

Answer 6

Right now my husband and I rent although it might as well be just like a mortgage because no utilities are included except W/S because it is required of landlords to do in my town. I live in a small town in Pennsylvania, and we are looking in to buying. Although, lots of houses we have looked at are fixer-upers. The ones that aren't are costing $150,000+. We would like to eventually build our own house some day because I have designed one with the appliances and all we know it will cost us around $300,000 without the cost of land. Right now we are looking at a mobile home which has master bedroom and bath, three other bedrooms kitchen, nook, living-room, 2nd bath, utiility room, game room(optional 5th bedroom), and basment for $100,000 which includes deliver and set-up. That does not include lot rent or the purchase of land

Answer 7

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 69% of Americans own their own homes. The median costs for homes nationwide is around $224,900 according to the National Association of Realtors.

Their report, linked below, gives median prices for a number of metropolitan areas, both large and small.

Answer 8

own