Income vs House Value in Irvine (Riverside, San Bernardino: low income, fit in, mortgage broker)

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by cabolissa

2 $90k incomes = $180k+

$94k is the median household income, not per person.

[00molavi]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

$94k is the median household income, not per person.

Would that include all college kids that are renting rooms and not making any money?

There are large immigrant groups in Irvine and they tend to bring some capital from their own country. That helps them pay more toward down payment. But also could be that the housing prices in Irvine are still waiting for an adjustment.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by 00molavi

Would that include all college kids that are renting rooms and not making any money?

There are large immigrant groups in Irvine and they tend to bring some capital from their own country. That helps them pay more toward down payment. But also could be that the housing prices in Irvine are still waiting for an adjustment.

Well I would assume that household income would include all earnings under that roof whether its one wage earner for a traditional family of four or 6 unrelated wage earners. I don't know if the per capita numbers include minors in the head count.

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by pacific2

The average down payment for home purchases in Irvine is around 40% compared to about 20-25% for other nice cities in Orange County. Also, about 1 in 7-8 homes in Irvine are bought for cash versus maybe 1 in 20-30 in other cities in OC.

Link please. I am curious, why would Irvine residents tend to put 40% down?

Purely my speculation - But part maybe because Irvine's strong schools attract a higher percentage of buyers who are "Trading up" and sell existing houses in other locations, so there may be a higher then average number of buyers who have existing equity to add to a down payment.

Another part may be the large population of imigrants - particularly asian - who seem to do alot of transactions in cash. Some also flat out pay cash vs. finance, so I suspect this drives up the average of a down payments for the area.

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

$94k is the median household income, not per person.

I kind of doubt this number. I suspect there is alot of unreported/accounted for income in Irvine. There are a lot of self-employed people and business owners who I meet around my neighborhood. I seriously doubt whatever gov't report these statistics are tabulated from truly reflect what alot of these people make.

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by OC Investor2

Another part may be the large population of imigrants - particularly asian - who seem to do alot of transactions in cash. Some also flat out pay cash vs. finance, so I suspect this drives up the average of a down payments for the area.

They also tend to live with the parents while making 6 figure incomes before buying houses in their 30's with large down payments.

[CAVA1990]

It's pretty silly thinking home prices have anything to do with homeowner incomes. Home prices are based on the incomes of home buyers not homeowners. They're two different groups. I know plenty of people living comfortably on $90K incomes in $700K homes they bought years ago at much lower prices. I'm sure the median income of homebuyers there is a lot closer to the $180K mark than to $90K.

[OC Investor2]

Originally Posted by EscapeCalifornia

They also tend to live with the parents while making 6 figure incomes before buying houses in their 30's with large down payments.

Yeah, I see A LOT of 3 generation households in Irvine. I think in many cases, Grandmom & Granddad sell their place and help the kids with the down then everyone moves into the 5 BR house in Irvine so the grandkids can go to the good schools.

[NextExile]

I see. I apologize if my questions seem silly.

But back to my original question, today, to move to Irvine and live in one of those $700,000 homes, you would actually have to have a household income of $200K? Is that a correct assumption?

[Charles]

Originally Posted by NextExile

to move to Irvine and live in one of those $700,000 homes, you would actually have to have a household income of $200K?


Is that a correct assumption?

No.

You could get away with a $35K income, if you put $600K down.