Study: Springfield homes least expensive in state

Coldwell Banker Real Estate Corp. conducted the study by compiling the average 2006 sales prices of sold home listings within its worldwide database. Average prices were calculated for a typical single-family home that’s approximately 2,200 square feet and has four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a family room and a two-car garage. The homes had to be located in markets that are typical for corporate middle-management transferees.

Springfield’s 2006 average sales price of the typical home was $188,318. That’s roughly $66,000 less than in Missouri’s most expensive market, St. Louis, where the same home would cost $255,000.

Springfield falls near the bottom of the pricing spectrum, as the most inexpensive market was Minot, N.D., with a home price of $132,333. The priciest housing market in the world was Beverly Hills, Calif., where the home sells for an average of $1.8 million.

Nearby Topeka, Kan., and Tulsa, Okla., made the top 10 most affordable markets, with the typical home costing $148,050 and $148,575, respectively.