These 10 states boast cheapest housing markets, report says

(NEXSTAR) — Home prices have been hot across the U.S. recently, but they aren’t high everywhere. In fact, some areas are far less expensive than the national average.

The national median home list price was $425,000 in April, according to Realtor.com, even as the housing market remains in a slowdown. Realtor.com found the median list price for a home in the most affordable state — West Virginia — isn’t even close to the national average.

Of the cheapest states, all have median home price tags below $300,000. They’re all primarily rural and without huge cities (with a few exceptions), the real estate website found. They haven’t “seen the typical boom-and-bust real estate cycles that coastal markets saw,” according to George Ratiu, manager of economic research for Realtor.com.

Instead, these states are scattered through the Midwest and South.

West Virginia has the lowest median list price at $199,000, less than half that of the national average. This is the only state with a median price below $200,000, Realtor.com’s analysis found. The next most affordable state is Ohio, with a median home price tag of $215,000.

Arkansas and Kansas are the only two other states with median prices below $250,000, coming in at $245,000 and $248,500, respectively. Ranking at the bottom of the list is Missouri at $270,000, which is still $155,000 cheaper than the national average.

Here are the 10 states Realtor.com found to have the cheapest housing markets, as well as their median home list prices, based on April’s data:

Cities in some of these states have even offered financial incentives for people to move to the area. Among those include Bentonville, Arkansas; Lincoln and Topeka, Kansas; Morgantown, West Virginia; Tulsa, Oklahoma, and West Lafayette, Indiana.

While the markets in these states are more affordable, they’re still competitive for buyers.

Realtors from West Virginia, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Mississippi say buying a home isn’t necessarily easier in their states. The market is as hot as ever, with the demand up and listings getting multiple offers.

It’s unclear whether relief will be coming anytime soon for home buyers in these states and throughout the country.

Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates edged down slightly this week, though interest rates on the key 30-year home loan remain at decade-high levels. Higher borrowing rates appear to be slowing the housing market, a crucial sector of the economy.

In April, sales of both existing homes and new homes showed signs of faltering, worsened by sharply higher home prices and a shrunken supply of available properties.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.