A growing share of U.S. cities now have what some analysts describe as “starter homes” with typical values of $1 million or more. According to CBS News, the number of metropolitan areas meeting that threshold has tripled since 2020. PR Newswire reports a record count of 242 U.S. cities where a typical entry-level home is valued at $1 million or higher. Both reports describe the change as a major shift from pre-pandemic levels, with the number of areas and cities meeting the price criterion increasing nearly threefold since 2020. The coverage frames the rise as part of a broader housing affordability reset associated with the pandemic-era housing market boom, particularly affecting first-time buyers. While the outlets use slightly different geographic units—metropolitan areas versus cities—they converge on the same central point: $1 million starter homes are becoming more common across the United States than they were in the years before the pandemic.