Starter home markets in NYC’s suburbs have been ‘eliminated’
- Median sale prices have doubled across 100 suburban communities since 2016
- There are no markets left with median prices below $250,000 as per PropertyShark
A view of Summit in Union County, New Jersey. Today 43 percent of suburban markets around NYC have median prices ranging from $500,000 to $750,000—double the share from a decade ago, according to a new report from PropertyShark.
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Call it the mystery of the missing markets: The most affordable median sale prices in NYC’s suburbs are gone.
A new report from PropertyShark finds median prices in 13 counties surrounding NYC have jumped 86 percent in past the 10 years—double the median sale price increase for the city during the same period.
The shift eliminates options for buyers seeking the most affordable homes in the burbs. Median sale prices doubled (some are even higher) across 100 suburban communities since 2016 and there are no markets left with median prices below $250,000, according to the report by senior writer Eliza Theiss.
“[W]hat was once a suburban ecosystem with a wide range of price points in which NYC buyers could still find relatively affordable communities has since consolidated into a far more expensive market dominated by mid- and high-priced suburban communities,” Theiss wrote.
Those price increases “effectively eliminated the traditional starter home markets familiar to NYC buyers,” she said. Today, only 31 enclaves have median prices under $500,000, representing just 8 percent of the 387 suburban markets in the study.
Many areas pricier than NYC
The report found that many suburban communities have surpassed NYC neighborhoods in pricing. Today, 43 percent of suburban markets have median prices ranging from $500,000 to $750,000—double the share from a decade ago and 49 percent of markets now exceed $750,000.
As the suburbs outside of NYC have moved up the pricing ladder, there are now 98 expensive suburbs with median prices of $1 million or more. Only 31 areas had median prices ranging from $250,000 to $500,000.
The shift hit popular destinations for NYC buyers like Maplewood, New Jersey, which moved from a median sale price of under $500,000 in 2016 to more than $1 million in 2025.
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