What the Average Home Price Today Could Buy the Year You Were Born

The fact that the cost of an average home has skyrocketed over the years is hardly news to anyone, particularly if you’re old enough to have actually purchased a home in previous decades. However, what’s sometimes not as clear is just how much of that change is due to the natural creep of inflation — everything costs more now than it did in years past, after all — and how much is a sign of home prices increasing relative to everything else. With the shifting value of currency, the dynamic behavior of the housing market and the constant changes in the size and style of houses, the real causes of why it costs so much more to buy a home nowadays can be hard to suss out.

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To offer more perspective, GOBankingRates conducted a study that focused on the size of the home you could buy in the past — dating as far back as 1963 — with the median home price of today, or about $324,300. The study pulled the median price of a home for each given year from the U.S. Census Bureau and combined it with U.S. Housing and Urban Development data to estimate the price per square foot in past housing markets.

Keep reading to discover what you could have purchased in the year you were born — especially as compared to the exorbitant prices of today.

Last updated: Oct. 16, 2021

1963

Median home price: $18,000
Median square footage: 1,365
Price per square foot: $13.19
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 24,587

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1964

Median home price: $18,900
Median square footage: 1,415
Price per square foot: $13.36
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 24,274

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1965

Median home price: $20,000
Median square footage: 1,495
Price per square foot: $13.38
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 24,238

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1966

Median home price: $21,400
Median square footage: 1,525
Price per square foot: $14.03
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 23,115

1967

Median home price: $22,700
Median square footage: 1,570
Price per square foot: $14.46
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 22,365

1968

Median home price: $24,700
Median square footage: 1,605
Price per square foot: $15.39
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 21,072

1969

Median home price: $25,600
Median square footage: 1,585
Price per square foot: $16.15
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 20,080

1970

Median home price: $23,400
Median square footage: 1,385
Price per square foot: $16.90
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 19,189

1971

Median home price: $25,200
Median square footage: 1,375
Price per square foot: $18.33
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 17,692

1972

Median home price: $27,600
Median square footage: 1,405
Price per square foot: $19.64
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 16,512

1973

Median home price: $32,500
Median square footage: 1,525
Price per square foot: $21.31
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 15,218

1974

Median home price: $35,900
Median square footage: 1,560
Price per square foot: $23.01
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 14,093

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1975

Median home price: $39,300
Median square footage: 1,535
Price per square foot: $25.60
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 12,668

1976

Median home price: $44,200
Median square footage: 1,590
Price per square foot: $27.80
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 11,665

1977

Median home price: $48,800
Median square footage: 1,610
Price per square foot: $30.31
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 10,699

1978

Median home price: $55,700
Median square footage: 1,655
Price per square foot: $33.66
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 9,635

1979

Median home price: $62,900
Median square footage: 1,645
Price per square foot: $38.24
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 8,481

1980

Median home price: $64,600
Median square footage: 1,595
Price per square foot: $40.50
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 8,007

1981

Median home price: $68,900
Median square footage: 1,550
Price per square foot: $44.45
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 7,296

1982

Median home price: $69,300
Median square footage: 1,520
Price per square foot: $45.59
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 7,113

1983

Median home price: $75,300
Median square footage: 1,565
Price per square foot: $48.12
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 6,739

1984

Median home price: $79,900
Median square footage: 1,605
Price per square foot: $49.78
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 6,515

1985

Median home price: $84,300
Median square footage: 1,605
Price per square foot: $52.52
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 6,175

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1986

Median home price: $92,000
Median square footage: 1,660
Price per square foot: $55.42
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,852

1987

Median home price: $104,500
Median square footage: 1,755
Price per square foot: $59.54
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,447

1988

Median home price: $112,500
Median square footage: 1,810
Price per square foot: $62.15
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,218

1989

Median home price: $120,000
Median square footage: 1,850
Price per square foot: $64.86
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,000

1990

Median home price: $122,900
Median square footage: 1,905
Price per square foot: $64.51
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,027

1991

Median home price: $120,000
Median square footage: 1,890
Price per square foot: $63.49
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,108

1992

Median home price: $121,500
Median square footage: 1,920
Price per square foot: $63.28
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 5,125

1993

Median home price: $126,500
Median square footage: 1,945
Price per square foot: $65.04
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,986

1994

Median home price: $130,000
Median square footage: 1,940
Price per square foot: $67.01
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,840

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1995

Median home price: $133,900
Median square footage: 1,920
Price per square foot: $69.74
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,650

1996

Median home price: $140,000
Median square footage: 1,950
Price per square foot: $71.79
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,517

1997

Median home price: $146,000
Median square footage: 1,975
Price per square foot: $73.92
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,387

1998

Median home price: $152,500
Median square footage: 2,000
Price per square foot: $76.25
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,253

1999

Median home price: $161,000
Median square footage: 2,028
Price per square foot: $79.39
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 4,085

2000

Median home price: $169,000
Median square footage: 2,057
Price per square foot: $82.16
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,947

2001

Median home price: $175,200
Median square footage: 2,103
Price per square foot: $83.31
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,893

2002

Median home price: $187,600
Median square footage: 2,114
Price per square foot: $88.74
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,654

2003

Median home price: $195,000
Median square footage: 2,137
Price per square foot: $91.25
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,554

2004

Median home price: $221,000
Median square footage: 2,140
Price per square foot: $103.27
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,140

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2005

Median home price: $240,900
Median square footage: 2,227
Price per square foot: $108.17
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,998

2006

Median home price: $246,500
Median square footage: 2,248
Price per square foot: $109.65
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,958

2007

Median home price: $247,900
Median square footage: 2,277
Price per square foot: $108.87
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,979

2008

Median home price: $232,100
Median square footage: 2,215
Price per square foot: $104.79
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,095

2009

Median home price: $216,700
Median square footage: 2,135
Price per square foot: $101.50
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,195

2010

Median home price: $221,800
Median square footage: 2,169
Price per square foot: $102.26
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,171

2011

Median home price: $227,200
Median square footage: 2,233
Price per square foot: $101.75
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,187

2012

Median home price: $245,200
Median square footage: 2,306
Price per square foot: $106.33
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 3,050

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2013

Median home price: $268,900
Median square footage: 2,384
Price per square foot: $112.79
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,875

2014

Median home price: $288,500
Median square footage: 2,453
Price per square foot: $117.61
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,757

2015

Median home price: $294,200
Median square footage: 2,467
Price per square foot: $119.25
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,719

2016

Median home price: $307,800
Median square footage: 2,422
Price per square foot: $127.09
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,552

2017

Median home price: $323,100
Median square footage: 2,426
Price per square foot: $133.18
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,435

2018

Median home price: $326,400
Median square footage: 2,386
Price per square foot: $136.80
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,371

2019

Median home price: $321,500
Median square footage: 2,322
Price per square foot: $138.46
Square footage you could buy for the price of a 2020 home: 2,342

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Erica Corbin contributed to the reporting of this article.

Methodology: GOBankingRates determined what today’s average home price could buy you, dating back to 1963, using in the following data points: (1) the average median home price per year from 1963-2020, found by taking the average of the monthly median prices of the year, sourced from the United States Census Bureau’s new residential sales historical data (data only went as far back as January 1963); (2) median square footage of new residential homes, sourced from the United States Census Bureau’s characteristics of new housing data from 1970 onward and the United States Housing and Urban Development’s characteristics of new one-family homes for 1969 and before. These two factors were divided to get each year’s (3) price per square foot, which was then divided by the 2020 median home sale price as sourced from the United States Census Bureau’s new residential sales historical data, which in turn gave (4) the amount of square footage a 2020 home price could buy you for that year. All data was collected and up to date as of Oct. 7, 2020.