Cities in both Arizona and Colorado are listed on the top 20 of metropolitan areas that currently have starter homes priced at $1 million or above, according to a new survey.
Altogether, says the report compiled by the real estate service site Zillow, there is now a record 242 cities across the country with entry-level homes listed at a minimum of $1 million.
In noting what is seen as a growing demand for higher-end properties, especially among younger homebuyers, Zillow also points out that the total count of $1 million starter homes is now roughly three times what it was before the pandemic in early 2020.
“A housing shortage a decade in the making ran headlong into intense demand with mortgage rates at historic lows,” notes the Zillow report, “driving up home values at a record pace.”
New York and California, two states with the highest average home prices to begin with, led the list with the most cities containing $1 million starter homes.
Both Florida and Texas ranked high with seven cities each with starter homes at $1 million, while the Western states of Nevada and Utah had one city each.
Overwhelmingly, the pattern represents significant coastal growth: “The New York City metro area, which includes parts of New Jersey and Pennsylvania, leads all metro areas with 63 cities where a typical starter home costs $1 million or more,” says Zillow.
Some 83 cities on the West coast, meanwhile, from southern California to upper Washington, now have $1 million average starter home prices.
At the same time, the overall average starter home in all categories today is priced at just under $200,000, up from $154,000 a decade ago.
July 2, 2026
By Garry Boulard
Graphic courtesy of Unsplash
