The bar for entry-level homeownership has never been higher. While the typical starter home nationwide is worth $198,649, a record 242 cities now have starter homes valued at $1 million or more, according to a new Zillow® analysis . A typical "starter home" is defined for this analysis as a home in the lowest third of home values in a given region. The count of cities with million-dollar starter homes has grown from 226 cities a year ago, even as affordability pressures have begun to ease in parts of the country. The effects of the pandemic housing boom have proven durable. A housing shortage , a decade in the making, ran headlong into intense demand amid historic lows in mortgage rates, driving up home values at a record pace. While plenty of markets are still feeling the pinch of this price reset, conditions are slowly becoming friendlier for buyers: The typical home buyer now breaks even relative to renting after roughly six years, down from more than eight years in late 2023. "The