4Q08: LI 3rd Least Affordable Metro Area (New York, Syracuse: houses, buy)

[I_Love_LI_but]

Looks like prices still have a ways to drop if houses are going to sell. We're breathing down the necks of Manhattan, Westchester, northern NJ and the San Francisco area. Actually, I would not want to live in any of the most affordable areas instead of LI if they gave me the house for free!

For the fourth quarter of 2008, Long Island was the third least-affordable area with a population of 500,000 or more. The most expensive was the area including New York City, White Plains and Wayne, N.J.

The index is based on what percentage of homes sold in an area were affordable to families earning the median income for that area during the quarter.

Most Affordable Metro Areas*
1. Indianapolis-Carmel, Ind.
2. Warren-Troy-Farmington Hills, Mich.
3. Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, Ohio-Penn.
4. Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.
5. Grand Rapids-Wyoming, Mich.
6. Syracuse, N.Y.
7. Dayton, Ohio
8. Akron, Ohio
9. Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, Ohio
10. Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Penn.

Least Affordable Metro Areas
1. New York-White Plains-Wayne, N.Y.-N.J.
2. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.
3. Nassau-Suffolk, N.Y.
4. Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif.
5. Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, Fla.
6. Santa Ana-Anaheim-Irvine, Calif.
7. El Paso, Texas
8. Newark-Union, N.J.-Penn.
9. Honolulu, Hawaii
10. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.
*Areas with population of 500,000 or more in 2007

[dman72]

All the affordable areas mentioned are economically depressed rust belt towns. Sure, if you can buy a house outright there with money from someplace else, great. But I've been to about half of those places...and I'd never want to live in any of them.

[gmagg]

If Long Island is too expensive, but you like the lifestyle, location, proximity to large cities etc., try these places: New Haven-Meriden, CT, Hartford-West Hartford area, CT, Southern NJ, Delaware. See where these places stack up on your affordability list, you'd be surprised to find that you may not have to move to Kansas to afford a home.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by gmagg

If Long Island is too expensive, but you like the lifestyle, location, proximity to large cities etc., try these places: New Haven-Meriden, CT, Hartford-West Hartford area, CT, Southern NJ, Delaware. See where these places stack up on your affordability list, you'd be surprised to find that you may not have to move to Kansas to afford a home.

Agreed on Hartford

Syracuse is a good bet too.
Not a bad little city if you can handle the onslaught of snow.

crooks

[StephM]

Originally Posted by gmagg

If Long Island is too expensive, but you like the lifestyle, location, proximity to large cities etc., try these places: New Haven-Meriden, CT, Hartford-West Hartford area, CT, Southern NJ, Delaware. See where these places stack up on your affordability list, you'd be surprised to find that you may not have to move to Kansas to afford a home.

Really? I'd never even considered moving to CT, I figured it was out of reach. Do these towns have good school systems?

[totallyfrazzled]

We briefly looked into CT about a year ago and found that the "bang for the buck" housewise was pretty much the same as LI, although for the most part you do get larger lots. The downside for us is that it's hard to find locations that are not on well water (which we refuse to have) and are also more affordable then LI. Also don't forget that CT has personal property taxes which NY doesn't have (for instance you will pay an annual tax on your cars, boats, etc).

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by StephM

Really? I'd never even considered moving to CT, I figured it was out of reach. Do these towns have good school systems?

Outstanding schools.

Low taxes due to no County government but they do tax you on your cars.
Just stay out of the the Poverty Pockets in Bridgeport/Hartford/New Haven

crooks

[alexei27]

I personally know 3 people who did the LI-CT move. All 3 say it turns out about the same. Like the other posters said...what you save on property/school taxes you probably end up paying on something else.

[AlexisT]

NY, NJ, CT are all high tax states and you end up paying somehow. You need to get to PA (and not all of it) before you see your taxes go down.

[TheTruth08]

Originally Posted by AlexisT

NY, NJ, CT are all high tax states and you end up paying somehow. You need to get to PA (and not all of it) before you see your taxes go down.

My mom just moved to the Lehigh Valley and commutes to NYC 5 times a week. Just so she could afford a house and save money.