Which are the cities with the highest housing prices? (compare, population, metropolitan)

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

SF ($973K Average) is actually more expensive than NYC ($523K average), although Manhattan prices are higher than anywhere in SF.

is that just for homes or it includes condos?
Here in Toronto, detach homes averages at $965,000, and semis at $700,000. And Toronto is a much larger city than SF.

[18Montclair]

Originally Posted by botticelli

is that just for homes or it includes condos?
Here in Toronto, detach homes averages at $965,000, and semis at $700,000. And Toronto is a much larger city than SF.

Actually the entire Inner Bay Area(Pop 6.5 million) is very expensive.

May 2014 Median Home Price
San Mateo County $1,130,000
Marin County $1,033,000
San Francisco County$963,000
Santa Clara County $875,000
Contra Costa County $759,000
Alameda County $749,000

May home sales and price report

And this is not new. The Bay Area has been the most expensive major metro area in the US since at least the 1980s.

[18Montclair]

And the median home price in Greater Toronto is $568,000, which is a bargain compared to the Bay.
-:: Toronto Real Estate Board ::-

EDIT: upon reviewing the data fron the Toronto RE Board, that $568,000 figure is actually the 'AVERAGE PRICE'. The Median Price for the City of Toronto is $493,000(Canadian dollars)

[Tall Traveler]

Vancouver, Cnd is the only city in Canada with housing prices comparable to the Bay area. Toronto is pretty close to NYC on average. Overall though, the USA has some very inexpensive cities like Phoenix, Vegas, Tampa, Pittsburg, etc. which Canada doesn't really have making the average house in Canada almost twice the cost of the average USA home.

[18Montclair]

So the latest figures are out for California:

Median Home Price, June 2014

San Francisco Metro Area & Santa Clara County(Pop 6.5 million)
San Mateo County $1,120,000
Marin County $1,060,000
San Francisco County $987,000
Santa Clara County $900,000
Contra Costa County $765,000
Alameda County $743,000

Los Angeles Metro Area(Pop 13 million)
Orange County $696,000
Los Angeles County $435,000

San Diego Metro Area(Pop 3.2 million)
San Diego County $531,350

June home sales and price report

[botticelli]

Everyone seems to say LA is an expensive city. Actually as a large city, LA is pretty affordable I would say.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by 18Montclair

And the median home price in Greater Toronto is $568,000, which is a bargain compared to the Bay.
-:: Toronto Real Estate Board ::-

EDIT: upon reviewing the data fron the Toronto RE Board, that $568,000 figure is actually the 'AVERAGE PRICE'. The Median Price for the City of Toronto is $493,000(Canadian dollars)

that sounds about right.
Toronto can't be compared with SF. Here an annual salary of $100k is considered pretty high.

Additionally, Canada doesn't deduct mortgage interest for tax purpose.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by botticelli

Everyone seems to say LA is an expensive city. Actually as a large city, LA is pretty affordable I would say.

The problem with LA is that salaries are pretty average for a large city and it's still expensive. There are very expensive areas around LA and Orange & Ventura Counties to the south and north are also expensive. But LA is much less expensive on average than San Fran or San Jose where salaries are at least very high.

[botticelli]

Originally Posted by Tall Traveler

Vancouver, Cnd is the only city in Canada with housing prices comparable to the Bay area. Toronto is pretty close to NYC on average. Overall though, the USA has some very inexpensive cities like Phoenix, Vegas, Tampa, Pittsburg, etc. which Canada doesn't really have making the average house in Canada almost twice the cost of the average USA home.

NYC is very special as the entire metro doesn't seem super expensive, but Manhattan is off the chart - about 50-60% higher than downtown Toronto.

I suppose the city of SF is close to Manhattan price?

[18Montclair]

Well that depends on the area. 435K isnt buying you a house in a nice part of LA. In fact, even areas considered more mid market range are still way more than that. LA has a lot of working class areas that drag down the total median.