BAM Key Details:
- Realtor.com reports 36.2% of active listings were starter-priced in August 2026, compared with 38.1% in August 2019.
- The starter price threshold has risen 30.8% to $340,000.
- Condos and townhomes made up 27.1% of starter inventory in August 2026, compared with 18.0% in August 2019.
Starter homes made up 38.1% of active listings in August 2019. By August 2026, their share had fallen to 36.2%, according to a new Realtor.com report.
Over those seven years, the price ceiling for a starter home climbed 30.8%, from roughly $260,000 to $340,000. If the 2019 share had held, the August 2026 market would have more than 21,000 additional starter-priced homes for buyers to choose from.
Realtor.com’s report tracks the decline across the 100 largest U.S. metros and the ZIP codes inside them. It points to the markets that lost the most ground, along with the ones where first-time buyers can find a way in.
Read on for the data your first-time buyers will want to know.
Where the Starter Home Squeeze Started
Realtor.com defines a starter home as any home listed at or below 80% of its metro’s median list price. The threshold comes from each metro’s own market, so there’s no single national dollar figure.
Most of the decline happened during the pandemic-era surge in home prices. Starter share had dropped to 36.3% by August 2022 and has held near that level since.
According to the report, the makeup of the market changed before mortgage rates rose.
The starter price threshold peaked at $353,000 in August 2022 before easing in the years after. Overall inventory is running about 10% below pre-pandemic levels, which adds to the squeeze on the entry-level tier.
Which is why Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com, said first-time buyers are up against more than high prices.
“Affordability is only part of the story. What matters as much is whether affordable homes are actually for sale in the places where buyers want and need to live. For first-time buyers, the search is increasingly shaped by the geography of opportunity, not simply a metro’s headline price. Keeping homeownership within reach will require more entry-level homes at attainable price points.”
Condos and Townhomes Make Up More of the Starter Tier
As single-family homes have priced out of the entry-level tier in a lot of major metros, condos and townhomes have filled a bigger part of the starter home market.
Here’s their share of starter-priced inventory nationwide:
- August 2019: 18.0%
- August 2022: 20.0%
- August 2026: 27.1%
Their share of the overall market grew from 16.5% of listings in August 2019 to 20.8% in August 2026, a slower climb than in the starter tier.
Jones described condos and townhomes as a growing entry point for first-time buyers.
“Condos and townhomes are becoming an increasingly important entry point to homeownership. That doesn’t erase the broader affordability challenge, but it does show that the starter-home market is adapting as single-family homes become less accessible to first-time buyers.”
Jones tied the findings to the need for more housing of every type, which Realtor.com is pushing for through the industry-wide Let America Build campaign.
Starter Share Winners and Losers by Metro
The biggest drops in starter share since 2019 came in Southeast and Sunbelt metros that saw sharp price run-ups during the pandemic. Here are the four metros with the largest losses:
- Columbia, SC: -8.3 points
- Winston-Salem, NC: -7.5 points
- Cape Coral-Fort Myers, FL: -6.9 points
- Augusta, GA: -6.5 points
Every metro on that list except Winston-Salem has seen prices ease since 2022. Starter inventory in those markets hasn’t recovered at the same pace.
The metros with the biggest gains tended to start below the national norm. These five have improved the most since 2019:
- Boise, ID: +4.7 points
- Portland, OR: +4.0 points
- Des Moines, IA: +3.7 points
- San Jose, CA: +2.9 points
- Denver, CO: +2.5 points
Affordable Midwest and Rust Belt metros hold the highest starter shares in 2026. All three of these metros have had below-average price growth since 2019:
- Toledo, OH: 42.1%
- St. Louis, MO: 40.7%
- Detroit, MI: 39.8%
Toledo ranked first in 2019. Detroit and St. Louis have each climbed the rankings since that year.
Metro Averages Hide What’s Happening by ZIP Code
A metro’s starter share measures how much entry-level inventory is for sale. To see where those homes are, Realtor.com sorted ZIP codes with at least 50 qualifying listings into three groups, based on how their listings compare with the metro’s own median price:
- Starter-dominant: at least 60% of listings are starter-priced
- Trade-up-dominant: at least 60% of listings are priced above 125% of the metro median
- Mixed: neither threshold is met
The report looked at roughly 8,300 ZIP codes across the 100 largest metros. Here’s how they broke down:
- 18.3% starter-dominant
- 20.3% trade-up-dominant
- 61.4% mixed
Mixed ZIPs make up the majority of the market in 81 of those 100 metros. The report found that starter-priced homes are more likely to be in mixed or pricier ZIP codes than in ZIPs where starter homes make up the bulk of listings.
For example, Austin, TX, has a starter share of 32.7%, an improvement from both 2019 and 2022. Its 80 qualifying ZIP codes split like this:
- 12 starter-dominant, clustered in the eastern and southeastern parts of the metro
- 24 trade-up-dominant, concentrated around Lake Travis and West Lake Hills
- 44 mixed
As for home prices, those span roughly 10x from Austin’s cheapest ZIP to its priciest. Starter buyers there have real options as long as they’re open to looking in specific parts of the metro.
As Jones said, buyers need more than a metro-wide number to understand their options.
“Metro-wide averages are a useful starting point, but they cannot tell a buyer whether they will have choices across neighborhoods or whether affordability is limited to a few specific pockets.
“Buyers should look beyond the citywide number and consider how starter-priced homes are distributed across the places that fit their lives.”
Midwest Markets Offer Both Price and Neighborhood Choice
When the report looked at starter share and starter ZIPs side by side, two Missouri metros rose to the top. Both have starter shares above the national average, along with above-average shares of starter-dominant ZIPs:
- Kansas City, MO: 37.7% starter share
- St. Louis, MO: 40.7% starter share
For buyers who can be flexible about location, the result is a long list of distinct neighborhoods to choose from.
Toledo and Akron, OH, post high starter shares with fewer total ZIP codes, so their starter inventory is concentrated in a tighter area:
- Toledo: 42.1% starter share, 8 starter-dominant ZIPs
- Akron: 39.3% starter share, 10 starter-dominant ZIPs
The report ties the Midwest‘s starter inventory to steady demand across the region. The national market continues to tilt toward buyers, according to the Realtor.com Market Clock. The same tool shows seller’s-market conditions are still more concentrated in the Midwest and Northeast than in other regions.
Jones said the Midwest offers something buyers have a harder time finding in other parts of the country.
“Despite a national market that has become less friendly to entry-level buyers, the picture is not uniformly bleak. The Midwest continues to offer something that is increasingly rare: meaningful starter inventory spread across enough neighborhoods to give buyers both affordability and real choice.”
Starter share has held near 36% since August 2022.
The Play for Agents
If you’re talking to first-time buyers, get familiar with the starter home situation in your market, and be ready to walk them through their options.
Here’s a script you can use for a buyer who’s asking about starter home options in your market that fit their budget. Maybe they’ve been on Zillow, Realtor.com, and other portals checking out what’s for sale, and they’re hoping you know something they don’t.
If you know your market’s starter share and price range, as well as the neighborhoods where your buyer has the best options, here’s where that data comes in.
Start with this:
“Hey [Name], quick thing I wanted to share with you. Realtor.com just dropped a report on starter homes nationally. Condos and townhomes now make up 27% of the starter home market, up from 18% in 2019. That’s a big shift. Are you open to looking at attached homes, or is single-family a hard line for you?”
If they say, “single-family only,” follow up with this:
“Totally fair. Can I ask, what’s driving that? Is it space, privacy, HOA fees, something else?”
You’re still in discovery mode at this point. And the more your buyer can articulate what they’re looking for, the more invested they feel in finding it.
Once you know their why, reframe the geography:
“Here’s what the data shows. Most starter-priced homes aren’t sitting in obvious starter neighborhoods. They’re scattered across mixed zip codes. So, the question isn’t just what you’re buying, it’s where you’re willing to look. How flexible are you on location right now?”
Give them space to answer. Then say this to book your next conversation with them:
“Here’s what I want to do. Let me pull the zip-level breakdown for our market and show you exactly where the starter inventory is actually sitting right now. Not what the portals show, the real picture. Can we get 30 minutes on the calendar this week so I can walk you through it?”
Most buyers who are earnestly searching for a home that fits their budget will be open to a 30-minute conversation that leaves them smarter about their options than before.
And you’ve just demonstrated your ability to listen and pinpoint what they need from you right now. This is about as win-win as you get at this stage.
The scripts above are from the BAMx Script Advisor, which is built on the live BAMx Roleplay Masterminds with Byron Lazine, Lisa Chinatti and Tom Toole, and updated every week. Sign up for a free trial to get full access.
