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I am from Europe and I wonder how is it possible that homes in the USA are so inexpensive? Price start at $100k and that's affordable for me. Here in central Europe the price is at least double, more like triple. I know that most of the cheap houses are built with wood so it is basically something like cottage but is used as regular housing, meaning that durability isn't great. For me, maybe it's better to buy a house like that in Florida.

If I were to buy an apartment here in my city, I would need about $180k and that's only a small single room!

If you live in the USA could you answer the question?

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    The cost of housing is affected significantly by the cost of the land on which it sits. Land in Berlin or London is expensive. USA isn't cheap if you want to live in New York.
    – Robert Longson
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 12:26
  • Since this is personal finance, you'll also want to compare the running costs, say, heating and AC (which is not even considered at all in most of Europe since the stone-based construction acts as heat buffer).
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:15
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    IMHO wood = cottage is a misperception. You can have cheaply built stone houses just like cheap wooden houses. (AFAIK, historically Europe used more and more stone since wood was scarce and expensive) In North America, much more wood is available compared to Europe: they have much more forest per capita than we do.
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:22
  • I believe this is a too simplified question. USA and Europe are roughly similar in size and both have widely varying property prices. The cost of houses is often due to market factors. You could probably get houses more or less for free in depressed areas, both in Europe and USA.
    – ghellquist
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:54
  • All of Europe cannot be unaffordable. Have a look how many live not only in their own house or flat but their payed-off house or flat in various Eastern European countries: ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/images/0/00/… The maximum being Romania with > 95 % house/flat ownership (and the vast majority paid off).
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:59

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Real estate prices depend heavily on location. Generally speaking, the better the economy in an area, the more expensive the real estate.

There are rural areas in Europe where houses are just as cheap. In the economically weak regions of East Germany you can get a house for under 100,000 €.

Similarly, there are urban regions in the US where real estate prices are even higher. If you want an apartment in Manhattan or a house in Los Angeles, it can cost you far more.

But another reason why the lower end of real estate is a bit lower in the US than in Europe are often building code restrictions. Building codes in Europe often demand far better insulation, fire safety and structural integrity than they do in the US. The cheap US mobile homes (made mostly from plywood and plaster) would never receive a building permit in most parts of Europe. This higher standard also drives up costs for construction.

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  • A house in Bristol, UK sold for £70,000, about $85,000 US recently. It was a wooden bungalow and did make the local news for being so cheap. However, there are plenty of houses around the $100,000 level and below in rural or low-demand areas of the UK.
    – Michael Harvey
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 15:09
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    Manhattan? Los Angeles? Low rent districts. Try zillow.com/homes/incline-village,-nevada_rb or jackson hole, wyoming :-) It's not just the economy, but the desirability of a place. Supply and demand, basically.
    – jamesqf
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 16:10
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    "economically weak regions of East Germany": there are also regions which are sweet spots in terms of the regional ratio house price to wage, again within Germany mostly in the East due to the lowered population density. Last I heard, Vogtland would be a candidate, but also the northern fringe of the Harz including the "Western" part. All of them rural, though (but I expect the same to be true in North America). And yes, I'd not be surprised if one could get a house in, say, rural North Dacota, more cheap than in rural Brandenburg - but then rural BB isn't as rural as rural Noth Dacota...
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:09
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I think it is socialism in Europe, producing a myriad of regulations and taxes. The regulation restrict building houses. With very limited supply , the price goes up ( that is capitalism). I often talked with engineers of steel companies , so people with good incomes and they could not buy houses until they saved for years,if ever. I remember one from France, he had inherited a house . Although he had been posted in the states for years , he kept the house in France and rented it because he might not be able to afford another . He also mentioned very high mortgage rates compared to the states.

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    Please indicate how "socialism" (in your opinion) is "in" Europe (which, mind you, is many countries with vastly different political landscapes) and how that relates to your answer. regulations here - Germany - are about safety of the buildings.
    – Daniel Jour
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 19:44
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    @DanielJour: don't forget environmental regulations, though.
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:03
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    I think there are a variety of cultural differences (that don't have to do with "socialism" in Europe). E.g. in Germany, we have a tax on the act of buying a house - in consequence, one doesn't switch houses and start with a cheap one that will be swapped againse a nicer one after a few years. One rather saves first until one can buy a house that will do "forever".
    – cbeleites
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:33
  • This does not add anything to the answer as it is written.
    – ghellquist
    Commented May 24, 2020 at 20:45
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    "regulation" is not a synonym for "socialism". I know that there are certain political activists in the United States who try to brand anything and everything they dislike as "socialism" or "communism" (which is where we got that weird misnomer "cultural marxism" from to describe issues Karl Marx never lost a word about), but that does not make it correct.
    – Philipp
    Commented May 25, 2020 at 9:07

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