Which city has greatest number of old and new houses?

Study breaks down regions in the US with most homes on the market

By Tony Cantu

20 May 2022

While housing stock remains at historically low levels, analysts at Point2 have identified the top US cities with the highest levels of old and new homes. The study yields a primer of sorts in determining what the nation’s largest markets have to offer.

Analysts defined old homes as those built in or before 1970, and new homes as those constructed in the last decade. Among the study’s highlights:

In 17 of the nation’s 50 largest cities, old homes make up more than half of the total stock for sale.
Texas, however, takes the lead when it comes to new housing, with six cities among the top 20 with the highest percentages of new homes for sale.
By comparison, the share of old inventory for sale in Texas cities is relatively low and hovers between 14% in San Antonio, and over 20% in Fort Worth and Houston;
Except New York City, Houston and San Antonio have the most homes for sale built in the past decade with around 3,500 each.
Among the 50 largest cities in the country, El Paso, Texas, is the only one to surpass the 50% threshold of new homes available on the market.

The report’s findings also revealed that:

Ninety-two per cent (92%) of the homes currently for sale in Detroit, and 83% of those in Baltimore, MD are at least 50 years old. Philadelphia, PA and Milwaukee, WI boast the third-highest shares of old listings: 76% each.
The Texas cities of El Paso, San Antonio, and Austin — as well as Oklahoma City — are the only large hubs where new homes built post-2012 make up more than 40% of the stock for sale.
New York City has the most homes for sale that were built in this past decade (about 4,500), followed by Houston and San Antonio with around 3,500 each.

Here’s something that will make you twist and shout: According to the US Census, nearly 40% of homes in the US were built before The Beatles broke up, according to the report. “Clearly, ‘out with the old’ is not something that defines residential listings in the country — particularly in staples like Detroit, Baltimore, or Philadelphia, the report found.

Detroit claims the highest percentage of older homes for sale: 92%. This means that around 2,400 of the 2,600 homes that are currently on the market in Detroit were built before 1970. Here, some of the oldest of the bunch — which were built as far back as the turn of the century — are mostly sold for land value, according to the report.

Baltimore also was found to have an abundance of vintage homes – one of the oldest dating to 1850 recently selling for $175,000, according to PropertyShark. Today, 83% of the current for-sale stock in Baltimore comprises homes completed at least 50 years ago -- around 3,200 of all 3,900 current listings. By comparison, just 3% of Baltimore’s current listings were built in the last decade — the same percentage as in Detroit.

While New York City didn’t make the top half of the list, it actually has the largest number of pre-1970 homes on the market with a cool 16,500. In this regard, the Big Apple is followed by Chicago with 6,100 homes built more than 50 years ago, which represents 51% of its current for-sale stock.

In Philadelphia and Milwaukee, 6% of homes for sale are on the older side, according to the study. But this percentage represents different actual numbers in each city: While 76% translates into around 5,200 vintage homes for sale in Philly, Milwaukee counts almost 1,000. What’s more, just 1% of all homes on the market in Milwaukee are fresh homes built post-2012.

As expected in an iconic city founded in the late 1600s, Philadelphia not only enjoys a heavy concentration of old houses for sale but it’s also home to one of the oldest residences sold recently: A masonry townhouse built in 1725 and sold in 2021 for $296,000.

Seven other Southern cities join the Texas squad,with the highest shares of the newest homes currently on the market: Oklahoma City, Okla.; Nashville, Tenn.; Charlotte, N.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Raleigh, N.C. and Tampa, Fla.