The biggest cost in any metro area is land. There are few empty lots left to build on, and those go for a premium. Not going to give any specific listing publicity, but "$350,000 USD for 0.047 acres empty lot" is common in the residential parts of Atlanta. We recently paid $25M for 8 acres with abandoned warehouses on them, to build condos on. We're still looking at $100k land costs per condo.

Go out two counties and a 1.5 hour commute, and land is only $5k/acre. Plenty of $200k starter homes in that area. No one wants to move out there though.

Disclaimer - I work in the residential construction business