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In January 2015, the median home price in the US was $294,300 (not sure where you got that $350K figure from since you didn't give your source).
Thanks for pointing that out. I must have have been looking at average, not median.
Quote:
The median square footage for new construction in 2014 was 2600 square feet. This comes to $113 a square foot.
Which appears to be what you did there. The median is 2400 sq ft, average is 2600.
I was using 1960 numbers. In another thread awhile back someone posted data for 1960, though it doesn't seem to be readily available online. Apparently there was a good amount of housing inflation in that period.
Like I said earlier, home cost doesn't scale with size. That was more true 40+ years ago, but now a greater % is the lot and fees. A big reason why lower income people think houses are expensive is because there are considerably more people working full-time at jobs that pay half the median wage or less. There was less income spread 40 years ago, and new houses were built for people with lower income. Most of the houses now are being purchased by a wealthier demographic, which is the big reason why the size has gone up.
From the information you have gave us over the years...........you can not afford a house.
??? How so? For several years I rented a guest house. The owners and I agreed on a price of $40,000. The mortgage payment including taxes and insurance at the time would have been less than what I was paying for rent. Today the rent would be 2x the mortgage payment. Renting that house is what I can no longer afford.
Because if you default the bank will never sell a 400 sq ft home.
Nor do neighborhoods want folks likely to default or not fit in the neighborhood demographics. Last thing they want is something that resembles a trailer park.
In fact even in rural pa where we had a house the min sq footage was set by the town. I think it was 1500
Because if you default the bank will never sell a 400 sq ft home.
Nor do neighborhoods want folks likely to default or not fit in the neighborhood demographics. Last thing they want is something that resembles a trailer park.
In fact even in rural pa where we had a house the min sq footage was set by the town. I think it was 1500
Sounds like class warfare.
p.s. The mortgage payment (including taxes and insurance) on that tiny house today would be half the current rent. How would I default on that?
Price per square foot has remained pretty constant over the past 50 years.
That "living space per person" is very unevenly distributed. Millions of singles and couples in houses @ > 1000 sq ft per person, and millions in crowded houses e.g. 8 people in 1,200 sq ft house where I live = 150 sq ft per person.
Okay, that stat strikes me as genuinely funny. My parents bought a new house in 1972. I looked it up, and its sq. footage is listed as 2750 plus a full basement on a 3/4 acre lot. I rented a brand-new house in 2006. It was 1800 sq. ft. with no basement on a 1/8 acre lot. I realize that we're talking averages here, but still, it's completely contrary to my experience.
Okay, that stat strikes me as genuinely funny. My parents bought a new house in 1972. I looked it up, and its sq. footage is listed as 2750 plus a full basement on a 3/4 acre lot. I rented a brand-new house in 2006. It was 1800 sq. ft. with no basement on a 1/8 acre lot. I realize that we're talking averages here, but still, it's completely contrary to my experience.
I think most new homes are built in growing / sprawling areas hence new homes tend to be larger than existing homes.
??? How so? For several years I rented a guest house. The owners and I agreed on a price of $40,000. The mortgage payment including taxes and insurance at the time would have been less than what I was paying for rent. Today the rent would be 2x the mortgage payment. Renting that house is what I can no longer afford.
How does this prove you can afford a house? This was a fantasy situation, that doesn't prove at all that you could afford it.
You think only rent goes up. That affordable taxes and insurance that you "think" would have been less than your rent would also have gone up.
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