Million-Dollar home sq footage: Pittsburgh ranks #8 (Ross Township, Fox Chapel: cul-de-sac, for sale, real estate)

[SuburbanPioneer]

Trulia crunched some numbers last week.

One can get an average of a 6000 sqft home in Pittsburgh metro for a million dollars. This places us #8 in terms of sizes of a million dollar homes among 100 largest metro areas in the country.

How Special Are Million-Dollar Listings? | Trulia Trends

The illustration they chose for the article is especially telling:



The pittsburgh house in the picture is predictably located in Fox Chapel
http://www.trulia.com/property/31494...burgh-PA-15238

[stburr91]

Wow, vinyl siding must be much more expensive in San Francisco, than here in Pittsburgh

[SteelCityRising]

With all due respect some of us desire much more than just "square footage". I don't care if I can get a much larger house in Pittsburgh than I could in San Francisco for the same price point IF locations, for example, weren't comparable. Looking at the example I'm presuming that McMansion is on a sidewalkless cul-de-sac way out in a gated "McFartsyPants Estates" a half-hour outside the city limits. I'm presuming the latter picture in San Francisco depicts a home on a sidewalked city street that is walkable to restaurants, professional offices, nightlife, cultural opportunities, shopping, etc.

Let's compare apples to apples, shall we? What can $1,000,000 get you in McMurray or Cranberry Township vs. $1,000,000 in an EXURB 30-45 minutes outside of San Francisco? What can $1,000,000 get you in a desirable neighborhood in San Francisco vs. a desirable neighborhood in Pittsburgh (let's say Shadyside)? I'm certain the housing market here is still MUCH less expensive, especially since San Francisco is home to one of the nation's most exorbitantly-priced housing markets, but with that being said it's unfair to say "$1,000,000 will only get you a sub-2,000-square-foot home in a walkable city neighborhood in San Francisco while $1,000,000 will stretch to afford you a much larger McMansion in a non-walkable exurban neighborhood of Pittsburgh".

Location, location, location. There's a reason why it costs more to live in Shadyside than Lincoln Place or to live in Wexford rather than Ross Township.

[ex-burgher]

Both houses are horribly ugly!

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by ex-burgher

Both houses are horribly ugly!

Agreed. With that being said people don't really care about the aesthetics of the exterior of a home anymore, judging by what I see on House Hunters. Many will tour ghastly-looking cookie-cutter suburban neighborhoods and "ooohhh" and "ahhhh" at them.

I wish this was still the gilded age of architecture where people wanted to build homes that they could be proud to show off and that would stand the test of time. Many 1950s-era neighborhoods already look terribly "dated" (i.e. Stanton Heights) and have lost their luster as a result. Will 1990s-era vinyl-clad "Maronda" neighborhoods stand the test of time, or will they, too, look "dated" by the 2040s? Neighborhoods like Shadyside, Mexican War Streets, Squirrel Hill, Polish Hill, and Lawrenceville all largely feature homes from the mid-1800s on up to the early-1900s, and nobody thinks of these places as being "dated" because homes were built beautifully instead of with the attidude of "slap 'em up quick for a quick buck".

[Evergrey]

I would much rather have that San Francisco house.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by Evergrey

I would much rather have that San Francisco house.

Same. Find me a million dollar urban PGH home for comparison please.

[PghYinzer]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

Agreed. With that being said people don't really care about the aesthetics of the exterior of a home anymore, judging by what I see on House Hunters. Many will tour ghastly-looking cookie-cutter suburban neighborhoods and "ooohhh" and "ahhhh" at them.

I wish this was still the gilded age of architecture where people wanted to build homes that they could be proud to show off and that would stand the test of time. Many 1950s-era neighborhoods already look terribly "dated" (i.e. Stanton Heights) and have lost their luster as a result. Will 1990s-era vinyl-clad "Maronda" neighborhoods stand the test of time, or will they, too, look "dated" by the 2040s? Neighborhoods like Shadyside, Mexican War Streets, Squirrel Hill, Polish Hill, and Lawrenceville all largely feature homes from the mid-1800s on up to the early-1900s, and nobody thinks of these places as being "dated" because homes were built beautifully instead of with the attidude of "slap 'em up quick for a quick buck".

Different strokes for different folks....

And remember that there was a time when areas such as Shadyside, the Mexican War Streets and Squirrel Hill looked dated. Or at least that is what the people of the time though. I can promise you that an 1880's Victorian looked dated to many people in 1930, and that is why so many of them have been muddled by previous owners.

[RyanR]

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Same. Find me a million dollar urban PGH home for comparison please.

Here 'ya go.

706 S Aiken Ave, Shadyside, PA 15232 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com®

Shadyside (since that's what SCR wanted for a PGH location).

$975K

4BR, 3.5 bath, 2BR apartment on 3rd floor.

Lots of other pics at the link.

[AaronPGH]

Originally Posted by RyanR

Here 'ya go.

706 S Aiken Ave, Shadyside, PA 15232 - Home For Sale and Real Estate Listing - realtor.com®

Shadyside (since that's what SCR wanted for a PGH location).

$975K

4BR, 3.5 bath, 2BR apartment on 3rd floor.

Lots of other pics at the link.

Now we're talking! Although it could use to be de-granny'd a bit, decor wise. Slap another $20k on there for improvements.