The Death of the Starter Home
Key takeaways
- “Rent is crazy right now, and housing prices are even worse,” Colón says. “We just wanted to get out of the rat race, and we wanted stability.”
- Colón, 27, and Quebral, 33, are part of a staggering trend—educated, employed Americans who are struggling to buy a home, a goal made ever more difficult by an inflated housing market.
- With housing costs far outpacing wages, starter homes—typically defined as houses that are priced in the lower third of the market—are increasingly elusive.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story After several exasperating Zillow searches through Portland, Oregon’s increasingly expensive housing market, Gaby Colón and Daniel Quebral scrapped their plans for a traditional home and embraced the open road, buying a 315-square-foot home on wheels.
“Rent is crazy right now, and housing prices are even worse,” Colón says. “We just wanted to get out of the rat race, and we wanted stability.”
Colón, 27, and Quebral, 33, are part of a staggering trend—educated, employed Americans who are struggling to buy a home, a goal made ever more difficult by an inflated housing market. Nishu Sood, a principal at the housing research firm John Burns Research and Consulting, notes that in the decade since 2015, inflation rose 37 percent, incomes rose 45 percent, and the cost of buying a home has gone up a whopping 115 percent (by comparison, renting an apartment has risen 43 percent). The national average price for a starter home was $292,950 in 2024, up from $190,559 in 2019, according to realtor.com.