The $400,000 Home is Disappearing From Some U.S. Markets

Real estate portal, Movoto by Lower, recently analyzed active single-family home listings across U.S. cities with populations of at least 100,000 to see how much inventory remains below five price points: $250,000, $300,000, $350,000, $400,000 and $500,000.

The biggest shift happened at the $400,000 price point.

Among 228 cities compared directly between 2020 and 2026, the typical share of homes listed under $400,000 fell from 72.6% to 28.0%.

The median share of active listings priced under $400,000 today is just 35.7% across the major U.S. cities analyzed in the report.

The decline in lower-priced inventory follows years of rising home prices, with increased buyer demand helping drive the sharp run-up during the pandemic. But some of the biggest changes in Movoto’s analysis happened in markets that once offered a more affordable alternative to nearby high-cost areas.

In Southern California, buyers increasingly moved inland in search of more affordable housing and space. Hesperia, Victorville and San Bernardino, three of the five cities with the largest declines in sub-$400,000 inventory, are all in San Bernardino County. Phoenix and Las Vegas similarly became popular destinations for buyers searching outside their existing metro during the pandemic, including buyers coming from Los Angeles and San Francisco.

Where Homes Under $400,000 Have Fallen the Most

The shift is especially clear in cities where homes under $400,000 once made up most of the market.

Hesperia, California, saw the largest change in the analysis. Nearly 9 in 10 active listings there were priced under $400,000 in 2020. By 2026, that was down to just 7%.

Victorville, California, saw a similar shift. In 2020, 96.2% of its listings were under $400,000. Today, fewer than one in five are.

North Las Vegas also went from a market where nearly every listing was under $400,000 to one where less than a quarter are.

Where Homes Under $400,000 Are Hardest to Find

In some cities, finding a home listed under $400,000 has become especially difficult.

Ten major cities had no active single-family listings under $400,000 in May 2026. Nine were in California: Anaheim, Corona, Riverside, San Francisco, Huntington Beach, Fremont, Fontana, Irvine and Tracy. Coral Springs, Florida, was the only city outside the state.

Five of those cities had at least some listings under $400,000 in 2020. Coral Springs saw the biggest change, falling from 31.8% of listings under $400,000 in 2020 to none in May 2026. Fontana and Riverside also saw notable declines, from 26.5% and 20.7%, respectively, to zero.

The other five cities were already starting from little to no sub-$400,000 inventory in 2020. Huntington Beach, Anaheim, Fremont, Irvine had none, while just 0.4% of listings in San Francisco fell below that price.

That doesn’t mean homes under $400,000 never come on the market in these cities, but none of the active listings included in Movoto’s May 2026 analysis fell below that price.

Where Homes Under $400,000 Are Still Common

The picture looks very different in parts of the Midwest.

In Warren, Michigan, nearly every active listing is priced under $400,000. Detroit isn’t far behind at 96.4% of listings under $400,000.

Cleveland, Ohio, Lansing, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio also stand out, with more than 94% of active listings priced below $400,000.

Lower-Priced Inventory Has Shrunk Across the Board

The decline isn’t limited to homes under $400,000.

Movoto also looked at listings under $250,000, $300,000, $350,000 and $500,000. Across cities analyzed in both 2020 and 2026, the share of listings below every price point fell.

The $400,000 mark saw the largest percentage-point decline of the five price points analyzed.

At $350,000, the typical share fell from 58.0% to 14.8%. At $300,000, it dropped from 42.4% to just 5.4%.

Even at $500,000, the share fell from 84.6% in 2020 to 55.7% in 2026.

Taken together, the numbers show how much the mix of homes available for sale has changed in just six years. While the size of that shift varies considerably by city, listings at lower price points make up a much smaller share of the market today than they did in 2020.

What This Means for Homebuyers

For buyers shopping with a $400,000 budget, their options can look dramatically different depending on where they search. In some cities, there are few, if any, homes listed below that price. In others, $400,000 still covers most of the market.

Higher mortgage rates add another challenge. The average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was 3.15% in late May 2020, according to Freddie Mac. As of August 24, 2026, it was 6.65%. That means buyers are not only choosing from a smaller share of listings under $400,000 in many markets, but also facing higher borrower costs that can affect their monthly mortgage payment.

The difference between cities is also significant. In Detroit, Cleveland, and Warren, Michigan, more than 90% of active listings are still under $400,000. In the 10 cities with no listings below $400,000 in Movoto’s analysis, buyers with that budget may need to expand their search or consider a different market.