Houses selling for a million dollars are spreading far and wide.

I'm David Brancatcher. The value of a typical home has hit a million dollars in a record number of U.S. cities. This using data from the real estate site Zillow, the median home value, crossed the seven figure mark in now 550 cities, an increase of 59 cities over last year.

That means it's not just lots of million dollar homes in places like San Francisco, New York,

or L.A.

Marketplace's Megan McCarty Karino reports.

It's been a while since most buyers batted an eye at a million dollar listing in San Francisco or Los Angeles, says California realtor Mark Willie.

But when he moved to the San Louis

Obispo area of the Central Coast about 15 years ago, a million dollar

home was something special.

Those like luxury living, right?

I mean, that was cream of the crop.

Often with actual crops, like acres of grape vines or a view of the ocean, but now?

In San Luis Spispo proper, a million bucks gets you a dump.

And a million dollar mortgage is more expensive than even a year ago.

Price increases have slowed but not reversed because they're stiffer competition for fewer homes.

There's something symbolic about a million dollar home becoming typical, says economist

Gray Kimbrough at American University. It does speak to sort of how out of whack things have gotten.

He says first-time homebuyers have been completely shut out of many markets and new construction isn't keeping up with demand.

I'm Megan McCarty Carino for Marketplace.

A big reading on Consumer Prices comes out later this morning.

It'll cover March and will give us a better sense of progress in the fight against inflation and the future of interest rates.

Marketplace's Nova Safo has a preview.

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