yahoo finance: LA median home price predicted to hit 270k median.
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My dream in life would be to get a simple house in El Segundo or Manhattan Beach. Nothing fancy, just a clean house in a sleepy neighborhood.
I'm sure a bank could arrange that. I could live in the house of my dreams. But in all reality I would be feeding the fat baby bank icing on the gerber cake.
El Segundo, $799,000.
637 Virginia, El Segundo, CA, 90245 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=el+segundo&sid=209f106728a1 41909ea79deea6207d63&pg=3&fhpg=1&lid=1095383264&ls n=26&srcnt=60 - broken link)
Dallas, $799,900.
407 E Hickory Ridge Circle, Argyle, TX, 76226 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=dallas%2c+texas&ml=4&mxp=79 9900&typ=3F&sid=d99e517c3fd94391b37f4fb2ec6bdb05&l id=1100694458&lsn=4&srcnt=34658 - broken link)
Look what $900.00 more can get you?
Don't forget the $20,000 property taxes you would be payijng there. Still no question housing a lot better elsewhere compared to CA.
It's easy for non-home-owners to think of falling housing prices as a good thing, because for them it's good in the sense that they may be able to afford to buy a house sooner rather than later, but let's not forget that our economy is largely (mostly) based on the spending power of consumers. When home owners realize their houses are declining in value, and not able to take out home equity lines of credit, and are putting greater amounts of their money into gas, mortgages, etc., then it hurts us all. I have a place, but I'm not too concerned about its value I suppose. I mean I paid $410K for my condo with a storage unit, so $390K for the actual unit, and my place is still at around $450K so it's not a big deal, even though it was at $515K for a bit. But a lot of families and people are hurting because of the home values eroding. It's just very bad for the economy. It's good for the economy to have house prices increasing in value at large rates, but everyone has to understand it's not sustainable forever. Homes should increase in value 6-7% per year, but they're likely not going to be able to sustain 10% or more increases per year, they'll come crashing back down eventually, which is what happened.
It's easy for non-home-owners to think of falling housing prices as a good thing, because for them it's good in the sense that they may be able to afford to buy a house sooner rather than later, but let's not forget that our economy is largely (mostly) based on the spending power of consumers. When home owners realize their houses are declining in value, and not able to take out home equity lines of credit, and are putting greater amounts of their money into gas, mortgages, etc., then it hurts us all. I have a place, but I'm not too concerned about its value I suppose. I mean I paid $410K for my condo with a storage unit, so $390K for the actual unit, and my place is still at around $450K so it's not a big deal, even though it was at $515K for a bit. But a lot of families and people are hurting because of the home values eroding. It's just very bad for the economy. It's good for the economy to have house prices increasing in value at large rates, but everyone has to understand it's not sustainable forever. Homes should increase in value 6-7% per year, but they're likely not going to be able to sustain 10% or more increases per year, they'll come crashing back down eventually, which is what happened.
Lower consumer spending = more job losses = lower affordability = lower home prices. It used to be people foreclosing due to taking out a ridiculous ARM mortgage. Now people are getting foreclosed because of job loses. Unemployed people can't buy houses.
My dream in life would be to get a simple house in El Segundo or Manhattan Beach. Nothing fancy, just a clean house in a sleepy neighborhood.
I'm sure a bank could arrange that. I could live in the house of my dreams. But in all reality I would be feeding the fat baby bank icing on the gerber cake.
El Segundo, $799,000.
637 Virginia, El Segundo, CA, 90245 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=el+segundo&sid=209f106728a1 41909ea79deea6207d63&pg=3&fhpg=1&lid=1095383264&ls n=26&srcnt=60 - broken link)
Dallas, $799,900.
407 E Hickory Ridge Circle, Argyle, TX, 76226 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=dallas%2c+texas&ml=4&mxp=79 9900&typ=3F&sid=d99e517c3fd94391b37f4fb2ec6bdb05&l id=1100694458&lsn=4&srcnt=34658 - broken link)
Look what $900.00 more can get you?
here is what LESS money will get you here. $789,500
1555 N Washington Ave, Ludington, MI, 49431 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=49431&sid=e276470ad4c54114b 99d2c33d3437758&pg=3&fhpg=1&lid=1101787291&lsn=28& srcnt=703 - broken link)
Or this one for $649,900
6694 W Timberlane, Ludington, MI, 49431 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=49431&sid=e276470ad4c54114b 99d2c33d3437758&pg=4&fhpg=1&lid=1101619812&lsn=31& srcnt=703 - broken link)
The drawback though is you don't get the more even temps year round that you get in LA. Plus the nightlife is a bit lacking... OK, almost non-existent . WE do have awesome beaches for the summer months though.
Home prices can only increase with wages. Wages don't increase 6%-7% per year. Never have. Never will.
Prices in LA will continue to decline for a few more years, at least. Prices declined for 5 years back in the '90s, but only declined a total of 20%. I wouldn't be surprised in the least if prices fall for another 3-5 years in LA, reaching a median of around $300k. The median income in LA supports a low-$300s home price, based on the long-term price to income ratio.
There is a premium for living in LA, but incomes are incomes and they can only support so much house.
Prices are not reasonable in LA by any stretch of the imagination. As an example, I just got back from visiting my parents in Dallas. There is a 4 bed 3 bath house in their neighborhood for sale for $260k.
Incomes in Dallas are about 10% less than they are in LA. Not half. So why is it you can get a 2,000+ sq. ft. home in a nice area of Dallas for $260k, when you can't get a studio condo in LA for that? Because LA is mostly hype. More people trying to keep up the image they can't afford.
But reality always wins in the end and prices will fall, fall, fall until prices and incomes are in-line again.
A simple question is, why were people willing to pay twice as much for a house today as they were 5 years ago when they don't make anymore money today than they did 5 years ago? There is no rational answer.
People arguing for the bubble always used that argument. "People have to have a place to live!" Oh really? So why weren't they willing to pay $500k for a crap house 5 years ago? They had to have a place to live then, didn't they?
It's all about monthly payment. Option ARMs, easy lending, and low interest rates supported irrational pricing by faking affordability, thus boosting demand. And around and 'round it went.
That which supported and perpetuated this bubble are gone... mortgage brokers, realtors, and would-be cashout sellers were swimming naked. The tide is down and we see this facade for what it really is. Nothing left to do but lower prices.
My dream in life would be to get a simple house in El Segundo or Manhattan Beach. Nothing fancy, just a clean house in a sleepy neighborhood.
I'm sure a bank could arrange that. I could live in the house of my dreams. But in all reality I would be feeding the fat baby bank icing on the gerber cake.
Check out what you can get for $785,000 in Bella Vista, Arkansas. This place is a mecca for relocating Californians.
46 DUNSFORD Drive, Bella Vista, AR, 72714 - Single Family Home Real Estate - REALTOR.com® (http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?loc=bella+vista%2c+arkansas&ml= 8&mnp=500000&mxp=1000000&typ=3F&sid=ddadeee9ec7d4d d6968266ba8c7fb56e&lid=1098822972&lsn=3&srcnt=12 - broken link)
Are there jobs and industries nearby, or are these mostly retiring Californians? (I looked at a map...sort of looks out there??)
Huntsville for example has lots of high tech jobs (most engineers per capita in the US) and housing ranges from $75/sqft (average homes) to $150/sqft luxurious homes. We paid $560K for 4200 sqft (5 BR, 4BA) in a very nice neighborhood.
Now, back to LA. We paid $330K for 2200 sqft ($150/sqft) in a very desirable section (Lang Ranch) of Thousand Oaks in 1997. Extrapolating 5% average appreciation for ten years for the TO house is $538K. (Today Zillow puts in the $750K range.)
But in all fairness, all these single, childless people posting on the virtues of LA would hate Huntsville.
What are considered the best middle class neighborhoods now in the LA area? And what do these average middle class homes cost?
Middle class neighborhoods? The middle class is a dying breed in Los Angeles. It's only upper middle to upper class, along with an ever growing lower class/working poor.
The middle class has been rapidly shrinking and will continue to do so, as these people leave the state or slip down to the lower levels, with a scant few moving up. So to ask for the "best" middle class neighborhoods is very difficult to answer, because of what few middle class neighborhoods remain, "best" is quite relative - they all stink.
When things were going up the misconception was that it would never decline. Now that a correction is being made, the misconception is that the party is over. For some of us the party never started and now that we are ready to play the market is looking very nice. I used to think that I missed the boat on housing. I remember ten years ago finding homes in the $150,000 range that were older homes in nice neighborhoods in Oxnard, Port Hueneme, and Ventura. At the peak those homes hit $550,000 and $600,000 range. Now I am seeing some of those same homes in the $250 to $300 range. I have seen some fixers for less than $200,000. It is an amazing world we live in now.
I know. I bought recently. Got way more home than I could have ever imagined just 2 years ago.
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. WE do have awesome beaches for the summer months though.
