A new Zillow report finds that buying a so-called “starter home” is increasingly out of reach for many first-time buyers in the Northeast, with the cost of entry reaching seven figures in a record number of cities. According to the report cited by Fortune and Yahoo News, the “first rung” on the property ladder now costs about a million dollars in 242 cities, which the outlets describe as a record. The change reflects broader affordability pressures as home prices remain elevated and competition for homes continues. While the reporting focuses on the Northeast and millennial parents, the underlying Zillow finding is not limited to one region: it is presented as a broad measure across many cities. The outlets do not indicate changes in lending rules or household incomes as drivers, instead framing the issue primarily as a pricing problem. The report highlights how quickly the threshold for what counts as an affordable entry-level purchase has shifted, making a million-dollar starter home a more common reality in more markets than in prior years.