LI Home Prices Far From Reality? um...yup! (Babylon, Levittown: 2009, apartment)

[ianwaters]

edit - "I should have written 'NY Home Prices Far From Reality?' but it will not let me edit the title - sorry!"

Pretty good little article from Reuters

Most U.S. homeowners think a bottom has been reached: Zillow | Reuters

FTA
"While homeowners are now more realistic when looking backward, they are still pretty starry-eyed when looking forward, with three out of four homeowners believing that their own homes' prices will increase or be flat over the next six months. Unfortunately, there are few markets we expect to perform this well,"


Most homeowners -- 74 percent -- believe their home will not decline in value in the coming six months, effectively calling a bottom to their own home's housing slide, Zillow said.

Specifically, one in four homeowners, or 27 percent, think their home's value will increase in the next six months, while nearly half, or 47 percent, believe its value will remain the same. Homeowners were similarly optimistic when it came to predicting home values in their local markets, the survey showed.

The reality is the reality...those prices need to drop people! Priced correctly I wouldn't think twice in buying a starter house right now!

[rocafeller05]

Ive been thinking about this lately. Maybe we are all fooled on what the starter house should be? Maybe there are alot of people on LI that make that 125K a year to afford the starter house? But I dont know where they are, everyone I talk to says they will never be able to afford a home at these prices?
Delusional or reality...time will tell.

[suzook]

Originally Posted by ianwaters

edit - "I should have written 'NY Home Prices Far From Reality?' but it will not let me edit the title - sorry!"


The reality is the reality...those prices need to drop people! Priced correctly I wouldn't think twice in buying a starter house right now!

Uh, sounds like wishful thinking. While i think prices will still drop a little, and then level for years to come, i think there are some great deals out there. And along with the low interest rates, i think its a good time to buy.

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by rocafeller05

Ive been thinking about this lately. Maybe we are all fooled on what the starter house should be? Maybe there are alot of people on LI that make that 125K a year to afford the starter house? But I dont know where they are, everyone I talk to says they will never be able to afford a home at these prices?
Delusional or reality...time will tell.

I think the middle of the road areas will come back a bit more to the high 200's, but the areas that were previously perceived as more expensive will stagnate and drift just a tad lower. So areas like Levittown, West Babylon, Deer Park, Hicksville, Rocky Point, Selden, Lake Grove, Holtsville, Oakdale, Lynbrook, Ronkonoma, etc, might still drop a bit, which is good. I am even seeing it, although slower, in my family's neighborhoods in Nesconset and Hauppauge (I can never remember how to spell that). Many of these previous middle class areas should have never seen home prices in the 500k range, new construction or not. The median incomes did not support it. If interest rates creep back to 7+%, which is still historically low, then you might seem some further downward pressure on all areas. Many people selling in long island have been in their homes for a while, and they will wait. It might be a 7-10 year wait, but they will wait. If you bought your home 10 years ago or even further back, you paid around 200k or less most likely. With some "swanky" area exceptions of course.

[Elke Mariotti]

Originally Posted by rocafeller05

Ive been thinking about this lately. Maybe we are all fooled on what the starter house should be? Maybe there are alot of people on LI that make that 125K a year to afford the starter house? But I dont know where they are, everyone I talk to says they will never be able to afford a home at these prices?
Delusional or reality...time will tell.

I've been seeing quite a few first time home buyers who make more than that and they're out there - looking! (Some are actually buying )

[TomMoser]

I'm seeing some people start to come back into the market, too. I think that there are currently some good buys in some of the solid middle class neighborhoods. It looks to me like around $300K is a point where first time buyers are willing to step in.

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by Elke Mariotti

I've been seeing quite a few first time home buyers who make more than that and they're out there - looking! (Some are actually buying )

$125k is way above average salaries.... at that pay you are just a home buyer, maybe first time but it does not matter.

I think the spirit behind the phrase "first time home buyer" is out dated, once upon a time it probably meant a family who needs more space to move out of the apartment out of necessity and buy a home.... that means even average earning households can afford starter homes....

On LI buying a "starter home" means... yay !! We have started to own a home !! You might as well be 45 years old when you buy it.

[Jrprofess]

Originally Posted by zulu400

$125k is way above average salaries.... at that pay you are just a home buyer, maybe first time but it does not matter.

I think the spirit behind the phrase "first time home buyer" is out dated, once upon a time it probably meant a family who needs more space to move out of the apartment out of necessity and buy a home.... that means even average earning households can afford starter homes....

On LI buying a "starter home" means... yay !! We have started to own a home !! You might as well be 45 years old when you buy it.

Is 125k really that high for this region as a combined household income? Take a city teacher and an accountant, both 5 years into their profession. Maybe 57,500, and 67,500 salaries (I'm guessing? There was a poll run in this forum not too long ago.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...lirs-poll.html

[zulu400]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

Is 125k really that high for this region as a combined household income? Take a city teacher and an accountant, both 5 years into their profession. Maybe 57,500, and 67,500 salaries (I'm guessing? There was a poll run in this forum not too long ago.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...lirs-poll.html

Ha ha... you crack me up !! the 63 people who voted.... is that a proper reflection of LIers ? Personally I think average LI salary should be around 100k if not less.

Oh By the way, I voted today on the poll... and my O my, seems like we are in rich company on this forum !!

Edit: Found some data.... cannot vouch for accuracy, but still its there....
http://www.mlsli.com/aboutli.cfm
http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/1/b...-NY_NYLIs.html

[OhBeeHave]

Originally Posted by Jrprofess

Is 125k really that high for this region as a combined household income? Take a city teacher and an accountant, both 5 years into their profession. Maybe 57,500, and 67,500 salaries (I'm guessing? There was a poll run in this forum not too long ago.

http://www.city-data.com/forum/long-...lirs-poll.html

Caveat: This is not intended to start an argument.

Last night I was fishing through the NYS transparency website and saw that my BIL's niece, in her 5th year of teaching in the school district here, is making over $72K. If she were married to one of my entry level employees ($42K) that's $114K -- not too far off from your calculation.