How much house can you get for $500,000?

Chicago

• 2-bedroom, 2.2-bath condo
• 1,765 square feet
• Year built: Currently under construction, completion expected July 2009 
• Price: $575,000

This new “green” construction in Roscoe Village has radiant-heated concrete floors, spa baths, a rainwater cistern, soy insulation and Traco Thermal windows.

Last year, this property would have cost $625,000, says real-estate agent Robert John Anderson.

Dallas

• 3 bedrooms, 2 baths
• 2,216 square feet on a half-acre lot
• Year built: 1959
• Price: $525,000

This updated home is in Dallas’ Hillside neighborhood and has high ceilings and hand-carved maple cabinets. The backyard has a cabana, an infinity-edge pool overlooking a creek and a covered entertaining area with ceiling fans, a grill and a fireplace.

Denver

• 4 bedrooms, 3 baths
• 2,592 square feet on a 4,170-square-foot lot
• Year built: 1904
• Price: $525,000

This "Denver Square"-style home is near Denver’s Cheesman Park. Foreclosures are not prominent in this historic neighborhood. The value of this house has held steady and likely would have been the same if it were on the market a year ago.

Detroit

• 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths and 2 half baths
• 3,900 square feet
• Year built: 1965
• Price: $490,000

This colonial-style home has views of Lake St. Clair. Located in Grosse Pointe Farms, a suburb about nine miles from downtown Detroit, this property previously was valued at $525,000, says real-estate agent Kay Agney of Higbie Maxon Agney Inc.

Las Vegas

• 4 bedrooms, 4.5 baths
• 3,743 square feet on a 15,682-square-foot lot
• Year built: 2004
• Price: $525,000

"Last year, this same exact home was asking $599,900 and sold for $535,000 after nine days on the market," says real-estate agent Delinda Crampton of Prudential Americana Group Realtors. Market activity and closed units remain strong, despite the fact the average closing sale price dropped by 35% in the past 12 months, Crampton says. But she says 80% of closed sales in February 2009 were bank-owned properties and 8% were short sales.

Los Angeles

• 5 bedrooms, 3 baths
• 2,540 square feet on a 5,500-square-foot lot
• Year built: 2000
• Price: $479,900

This property, now in escrow, was valued at $600,000 a year ago.

New York

• 632-square-foot studio
• Year built: 1986
• Price: $575,000

This studio is the size of most one-bedroom apartments in New York City. It has a washer/dryer, a balcony and four closets. Its building has a sky-top pool, a health club, a party room and a garage.

Last year, a similar unit sold for $710,000, says real-estate agent Cynthia Crowley of Olshan Realty.

Phoenix

• 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, 3-car garage
• 3,090 square feet on a quarter-acre lot
• Year built: 2006
• Price: $520,000

This house has mountain views, a pool, a kitchen with granite countertops and other custom upgrades.

"Foreclosures and regular sales that are priced correctly usually sell within a month of being listed," says real-estate agent Carlos J. Ramirez of SmartAZ Realty.  "The average days on the market for all the single-family homes sold in the Phoenix metro area within this price range since January 2009 has been 90 days." This listing is not a foreclosure.

Seattle

• 3 bedrooms, 3.25 baths
• 1,684 square feet on a 1,423-square-foot lot
• Year built: 2008
• Price: $549,950

"Last year, a similar-sized home nearby was asking $659,000 and sold for $605,000 after 157 days on market," says real-estate agent Nate Thornton of Windermere Real Estate. "The market has been down about 9% from 2008 to 2009. The projections are for the excess inventory to take another nine to 12 months to sell off, provided interest rates remain low, and for 2010 to be the start of a strengthening housing market." View this home’s listing information here.