Survey Shows What 4-Bedroom Home Costs Across U.S. : Home Prices: Survey compares costs of ‘middle manager’ homes, taxes in 204 metropolitan markets in the United States.

A typical four-bedroom, 2,200-square-foot house in Beverly Hills is the most expensive home of that size in the United States--selling for an average of $916,666, according to a comparative survey by an international real estate company.

The home price comparison index was compiled by Coldwell Banker Residential Group, which operates more than 1,900 company-owned and franchised realty offices in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

The survey compared the average sales price of at least three similar houses--each with four bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, a family room and about 2,200 square feet--sold during the last quarter of the year in each of 204 metropolitan areas in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

After Beverly Hills, the most expensive houses surveyed are in La Jolla, $869,000; San Marino, $661,000; San Francisco, $636,700; Greenwich, Conn., $623,000; Encino, $556,000; Newport Beach, $551,000; Palos Verdes, $530,000; San Mateo, $515,000, and Toronto, Canada, $508,812.

Other California cities surveyed--all in the “expensive” category at more than $250,000--were Long Beach, $407,333; San Jose, $340,000; Encinitas, in north coastal San Diego County, $299,600; Monterey Peninsula, $396,000; Poway, in north San Diego County, $304,333, and Oakland/Montclair, $396,667.

California had no “economical” markets--under $125,000--no “reasonable” markets--$125,001 to $180,000--and only three “moderate” markets, $180,001 to $250,000: Riverside, $210,733; Modesto, $213,237, and Sacramento, $231,333.

Bob Rollo of Korn/Ferry International said in a telephone interview that California’s high housing prices make recruiting employees from the rest of the nation very “difficult, except for very senior, highly paid ones.”

Conversely, the relatively affordable housing prices in much of the nation makes it easier to recruit Californians for jobs in other areas.

The Coldwell Banker sample house was most expensive in California, Hawaii, parts of the Northeastern United States and Canada.

In the 21 California markets surveyed, the sample house averaged $445,080; in Honolulu, the average was $438,333; in the 10 markets studied in Canada, the average price was $238,895, and in the nine-state Northeast area, the overall average price was $239,832.

Three of the 204 markets surveyed reported an average price for a sample home under $85,000, with Corpus Christi, Tex., the lowest in the nation at $81,666. Next was Boise, Ida., $82,667, and Oklahoma City, $84,833.

“Overall, the best values for this type of house--the kind preferred by many executives being transferred--abound in the South and the Midwest,” according to Chandler Barton, chairman of the Mission Viejo-based firm. “In 49 of the markets in those regions, the average price was under $125,000.”

The survey also measures annual price appreciation and property taxes. San Jose, where the sample house was priced at $340,000, recorded 32% price appreciation from 1988 to 1989, leading the nation, while Anchorage, Alaska, $148,776, recorded a 13.8% price decline for the same period, the biggest drop in the survey.

The highest annual estimated property tax for the sample house was in Beverly Hills, $11,458, while the lowest was in Baton Rouge, La., $250 annual property taxes for a $101,200 house.

The following table lists comparable home price information.

Change Est. 1989 ’88 vs. Annual State Market Price ’89 Taxes Alabama Birmingham $124,633 6.2% $ 682 Mobile 103,250 4.2% 455 Montgomery 107,215 6.8% 371 Alaska Anchorage 148,776 -13.8% 2,360 Fairbanks 109,980 3.9% 1,871 Juneau 133,330 6.4% 1,617 Arizona Mesa 122,500 11.9% 696 Phoenix 115,166 4.0% 1,009 Scottsdale 148,125 8.9% 1,053 Tucson 128,533 .0% 1,206 Arkansas Fort Smith 104,237 5.8% 940 Little Rock 109,750 4.0% 1,039 California Fremont 328,150 20.5% 4,101 (Northern) Modesto 213,237 21.0% 2,665 Monterey Pen. 396,000 24.0% 3,960 Oaklnd/Montcl. 396,667 14.1% 4,760 Sacramento 231,333 13.0% 2,892 San Francisco 636,700 14.0% 6,940 San Jose 340,000 32.0% 4,250 San Mateo 515,000 24.0% 6,417 San Rafael 361,333 19.8% 4,408 Walnut Creek 302,333 21.0% 3,870 California Beverly Hills 916,666 25.0% 11,458 (Southern) Encinitas 299,600 -1.8% 3,468 Encino 556,000 6.6% 6,950 La Jolla 869,000 30.0% 8,900 Long Beach 407,333 10.3% 4,174 Mission Viejo 319,333 6.7% 3,505 Newport Beach 551,600 27.0% 6,895 Palos Verdes 530,000 18.3% 6,360 Poway 304,333 25.5% 3,803 Riverside 210,733 15.0% 1,349 San Marino 661,333 18.0% 6,940 Colorado Colo. Springs 101,988 .0% 1,052 Denver 108,167 6.7% 1,039 Ft. Collins 126,260 2.9% 1,250 Conn. Danbury 257,666 1.7% 3,270 Greenwich 623,000 5.9% 2,807 Hartford 242,500 -2.4% 2,923 New London 219,400 .6% 2,763 Stamford 406,666 1.0% 4,694 Watertown 261,000 -12.0% 2,518 Delaware Dover 128,500 8.1% 800 Florida Clearwater 152,500 6.0% 2,069 Ft. Lauderdale 152,666 -2.6% 1,672 Jacksonville 115,633 2.0% 1,387 Miami 141,500 2.2% 2,387 Naples 227,600 22.7% 1,400 Orlando 135,487 .9% 1,472 Tallahassee 124,000 5.1% 1,123 Tampa 129,375 .0% 1,911 W. Palm Beach 139,000 5.2% 1,600 Georgia Atlanta 133,664 .0% 1,413 Augusta 120,183 5.0% 1,000 Columbus 96,078 3.0% 961 Savannah 107,750 6.8% 1,331 Hawaii Honolulu 438,333 13.7% 1,116 Idaho Boise 82,667 5.0% 1,003 Illinois Barrington 245,000 7.0% 3,200 Bloomington 114,633 .1% 2,569 Chicago 192,060 7.0% 2,941 Libertyville 232,000 12.4% 3,826 Naperville 162,350 5.1% 3,047 Palos Heights 163,500 -1.0% 2,277 Peoria 144,125 3.5% 2,675 Schaumburg 156,350 8.0% 1,937 Wilmette 388,500 2.5% 3,500 Indiana Evansville 94,330 5.9% 1,075 Ft. Wayne 97,250 7.8% 1,010 South Bend 107,900 7.0% 1,500 Iowa Des Moines 126,688 3.2% 2,650 Kansas Johnson Co. 127,529 4.0% 1,393 Wyandotte Co. 93,250 3.0% 1,133 Topeka 130,583 -4.1% 2,220 Wichita 113,200 -7.3% 1,650 Kentucky Louisville 123,667 7.0% 1,408 Louisiana Baton Rouge 101,200 -2.0% 250 Shreveport 121,225 -9.0% 800 Maine Bangor 167,230 14.0% 2,126 Brunswick 212,666 8.0% 2,829 Portland 181,333 2.7% 2,813 Maryland Baltimore 189,333 3.0% 2,264 Mass. Acton 282,000 1.9% 3,022 (Boston Framingham 232,200 .0% 2,205 area) Wellesley 418,333 3.0% 3,319 (Other Cape Cod 207,000 -4.0% 1,605 areas) Dennis 202,000 .5% 976 Falmouth 199,000 -8.0% 1,463 Marshfield 242,800 .0% 2,480 Springfield 178,000 2.0% 2,012 Worcester 206,867 -2.9% 1,693 Michigan Ann Arbor 214,667 9.4% 5,579 (Detroit McComb Co. 119,750 7.8% 3,050 area) Oakland Co. 215,225 5.0% 4,405 Wayne County 168,950 4.6% 3,196 (Other Grand Rapids 143,300 8.3% 2,705 areas) Jackson 100,633 8.4% 2,371 East Lansing 147,783 16.0% 4,183 Traverse City 134,040 13.0% 2,807 Minn. Minneapolis 169,000 11.0% 3,295 St. Paul 143,466 4.8% 1,787 Miss. Jackson 102,470 .1% 781 Missouri Kansas City 119,975 -2.0% 1,092 St. Louis 126,359 4.6% 1,283 Montana Billings 89,333 -1.0% 1,813 Great Falls 125,833 -1.0% 2,070 Missoula 100,375 -8.0% 1,425 Nebraska Omaha 106,633 4.8% 3,005 Nevada Las Vegas 127,725 -11.0% 887 Reno 131,444 6.0% 962 N. Hamp. Manchester 198,600 -4.6% 2,926 Nashua 210,666 5.0% 3,667 N. Jersey Bergen Co. 369,939 1.8% 6,322 Camden Co. 194,200 -8.0% 3,600 Cape May 230,666 11.0% 2,300 Essex County 287,333 -5.0% 4,877 Hunterdon Co. 243,250 -4.0% 3,880 Monmouth Co. 290,000 -12.0% 5,329 Morris County 253,975 -12.4% 3,683 Somerset Co. 295,000 -6.0% 2,897 N. Mexico Albuquerque 140,750 .0% 1,077 New York Albany 230,700 12.5% 3,300 Buffalo 147,875 12.0% 3,973 Syracuse 134,851 .0% 3,212 Rochester 150,000 6.3% 3,307 (New York Long Island, N. 288,000 -1.3% 3,864 City area) Long Island, S. 193,400 -2.5% 6,353 Rockland Co. 250,666 -4.5% 4,475 W. Suffolk Co. 253,000 -7.5% 6,167 N.Carolina Asheville 131,083 4.2% 1,007 Charlotte 137,414 8.5% 1,199 Greensboro 128,810 5.0% 1,097 Raleigh 177,300 6.4% 1,123 Wilmington 133,292 10.1% 1,306 Winston-Salem 111,293 3.3% 725 N. Dakota Fargo 153,400 1.0% 2,466 Ohio Akron 109,666 4.5% 1,506 Canton 108,967 1.0% 995 Cincinnati 142,333 13.6% 1,800 Cleveland 188,355 12.4% 2,274 Columbus 132,125 5.7% 1,763 Dayton 118,000 15.7% 1,198 Toledo 124,000 5.7% 1,905 Oklahoma Oklahoma City 84,833 -6.2% 1,083 Tulsa 116,800 -.2% 1,110 Oregon Eugene 103,983 8.8% 2,942 Portland 116,296 10.4% 2,431 Penn. Allentown 166,560 -7.2% 2,066 Delaware Val. 197,668 8.7% 2,596 Harrisburg 158,881 9.0% 1,566 Phil./Sub E. 230,250 6.1% 1,871 Phil./Sub W. 235,833 3.1% 2,072 Pittsburgh 123,983 7.8% 3,114 York 133,500 12.2% 1,297 Rhode Isl. Providence 223,666 4.1% 2,892 S. Carolina Charleston 126,150 4.7% 893 Columbia 132,633 10.0% 1,203 Greenville 105,100 4.0% 779 Spartanburg 116,100 8.2% 963 S. Dakota Rapid City 118,025 -1.6% 3,194 Sioux Falls 129,080 4.0% 3,084 Tenn. Jackson 110,550 1.2% 708 Knoxville 112,500 6.2% 714 Memphis 118,763 .1% 1,175 Nashville 129,188 -9.0% 806 Texas Arlington 98,332 -3.5% 1,552 Austin 107,300 -7.0% 1,642 Corpus Christi 81,666 4.0% 1,640 Dallas 124,438 -2.6% 1,911 El Paso 116,625 6.1% 2,150 Ft. Worth 129,250 2.1% 2,618 Houston 121,413 15.1% 2,875 Plano 133,000 .7% 2,370 Richardson 119,000 -1.7% 1,994 San Antonio 108,566 -4.4% 2,148 Utah Salt Lake City 125,500 7.0% 1,460 Vermont Burlington 218,143 13.0% 3,257 Virginia Richmond 124,833 3.8% 1,809 Roanoke 151,950 3.6% 1,231 Norfolk 120,043 2.2% 1,400 N. Virginia 242,611 13.5% 2,380 Wash. Bellevue 200,317 13.5% 1,457 Seattle 180,833 18.0% 1,253 Spokane 128,633 3.4% 1,379 Tacoma 128,500 2.3% 1,644 Wash. D.C. Inside Beltway 208,000 1.0% 1,073 Out Beltway 214,997 13.0% 2,554 W. Virginia Charleston 131,667 7.0% 762 Wisconsin Green Bay 104,100 1.8% 2,533 Madison 113,000 8.4% 2,904 Milwaukee 170,900 4.1% 3,903 Wyoming Cheyenne 110,000 1.8% 750

HOW TO USE PRICE COMPARISON INDEX

This index shows the sale price and estimated annual taxes of a similar home in 204 markets in December, 1989. Data reflects the average of three recently sold homes in each market. The index also shows the average change in value in each total market from December, 1988, to December, 1989.

The subject home is a single-family dwelling of about 2,200 square feet with 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, family room (or equivalent) and 2-car garage. The home and neighborhood are typical for a corporate middle-management transferee.

SOURCE: Coldwell Banker