I was fortunate enough to buy a house this year and the options seemed to be:
Under $250K: needs $100k of work
$250k to $350k: houses with less sq ft than my apartment that are >80 yrs old
$350k to $400k: okay house/location, probably with one glaring issue. If you’re lucky you’ll find one of those ‘starter homes’ will be here
over $400k: acceptable
over $500k: built within the last 15 years
The new starter homes seem to be townhomes, me and my wife considered buying one instead and the market for them was blistering as they were all that most people could afford that aren’t shacks/fixer-uppers… and people buying those will usually have to pay steep HOA fees on top of the increased interest rates, which is less going into their equity.
No one is building starter homes and with investing being so more accessible, you might as well do that while living in a nice apartment and wait to buy a nicer house.