Current Homes For Sale? (Pittsburgh, Oakland: buying a house, unemployment, neighborhood)

[Knepper3]

I really dont see a large dip either. Pgh just doesnt seem to move as fast up or down. We moved here about 12 years ago (family has always been here) from Central Florida. When we sold our house there and bought our home here at the same time, 2 years later real estate was well on its way down quick. The home we sold in FL was at about 50% 2 years after while the home here was about the same. I can see rentals going strong, not much choice but to rent when the inventory is so low to purchase

[safak]

Originally Posted by Paul2421

where up north are you talking?

Just Allegheny county, I can't pretend to know the market that well in Butler, Beaver, or Leechburg but I doubt its part of the madness.

[PGH423]

Originally Posted by jea6321

although I see where this thought would be coming from, and also fully agree that at times the current market can feel like its crazy inflated, all you have to do is take a look at other housing markets and realize we ( Pittsburgh) are probably not going to see a drastic fall in housing prices any time soon. We could absolutely see a flat line market or even slight decrease in the coming years but the chance of a full scale crash is very slim. Lending guidelines are extremely tight compared to the past, the amount of cash purchases is at its highest level in a very long time, and the appreciation of our overall market is still one of the lowest compared to most major and peer cities. We still look extremely cheap even in the hottest areas compared to trendy cities.

I do believe that some of the coastal cities are nearing the top though. I tend to lean towards investment property sales to show where we are in a cycle. cities like SF, Seattle, LA, Boston, etc are seeing residential rentals ( single family to 4 units) selling in the range of 2-3% CAP rates. this is a serious red flag that either the prices are getting too high or the rental rates are not high enough. I think most would agree that the rental rates in these areas can't get too much higher without seeing substantial overall higher pay.

Now back to Pittsburgh. residential rentals in our hottest neighborhoods are selling around 6% CAP and most of the city is more like 7-9%. this is still fairly healthy and shows there could be room for further growth.

I think most native Pittsburghers are just suspicious because this is the first bull market we have had in most of our lifetimes.

I obviously have a dog in this fight, so perhaps my vision is a bit skewed. However, I have yet to see any real evidence of Pittsburgh housing prices stalling.

Agreed, and we're still quite far below national home prices.

[safak]

Originally Posted by PGH423

Agreed, and we're still quite far below national home prices.

I've never looked for data on that but are you sure?
I know NY, some places on the west coast really up the average but for most places, you give me the same budget and I can get in just as nice of a place/school district(if not nicer) in any rust belt or midwest/west city all the way to Phoenix/Boise, anywhere in texas, twice the house in most SEC territory, down most of the coast (even Charleston/Savannah etc). Other than a few really hot spots in Colorado/Cali/Portland/Seattle/NYNJ i dont really believe our houses are cheaper than most.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by safak

I've never looked for data on that but are you sure?
I know NY, some places on the west coast really up the average but for most places, you give me the same budget and I can get in just as nice of a place/school district(if not nicer) in any rust belt or midwest/west city all the way to Phoenix/Boise, anywhere in texas, twice the house in most SEC territory, down most of the coast (even Charleston/Savannah etc). Other than a few really hot spots in Colorado/Cali/Portland/Seattle/NYNJ i dont really believe our houses are cheaper than most.

we are near the bottom of the list by statistical data of Median home prices. This is much more accurate than using Mean price. https://www.kiplinger.com/tool/real-...reas/index.php

[safak]

That doesn't tell me much about real world prices though. Most places out west or down south don't have a ton of old defunct towns at an average of 40k pulling it way down.
no one is moving there yet its a huge part of those meaningless numbers.

I'm more of a believer in the hands on 'heres your budget, find me a house in a decent neighborhood' type of guy.

[robrobrob]

My wife and I love to look at houses online a lot. In our school district houses in the 300-600,000 range go quick if they are priced right. However, they have to be sort of updated, have some sort of yard and not be on a busy street. The stuff that isn't updated does tend to sit. In a 400,000-500,000 house ignoring the paint and flooring, you have close to 75,000 in bathrooms and kitchen to get a house updated. Problem is the dated homes aren't priced 30% less than an updated home. Probably a little less than 20%. Who wants to deal with the hassle of updating a house to save 20-25,000. Especially when the updates are most likely coming out of your pocket. An updated house, you are paying a bigger mortgage and you savings are spared.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by robrobrob

Problem is the dated homes aren't priced 30% less than an updated home. Probably a little less than 20%. Who wants to deal with the hassle of updating a house to save 20-25,000. Especially when the updates are most likely coming out of your pocket. An updated house, you are paying a bigger mortgage and you savings are spared.

That was my experience when I bought, many years ago now. I think the problem is that people with dated houses usually grew old in that house and don't think of it as "dated."

[corpgypsy]

Originally Posted by safak

That doesn't tell me much about real world prices though. Most places out west or down south don't have a ton of old defunct towns at an average of 40k pulling it way down.
no one is moving there yet its a huge part of those meaningless numbers.

I agree. I cringe when I hear the mantra "such affordable housing in Pittsburgh". I tend to think of, what do I get for my dollars as well? Value? Dollars don't go far in Pittsburgh by comparison IMHO.


Some other numbers that I think contribute falsely to the myth of affordable housing in our area and the average price.
6,673 homes currently on the MLS in Allegheny County. 417 of those are under $40,000 ( some in the HUNDREDS of dollars and 4 figures) There are 184 between $40,000 and $50,000. And 510 between $50,00 and $75,000.

[_Buster]

I doubt Pittsburgh is really below average in house prices, if you take into account house age, condition, sq. footage, amenities, neighborhood... which is exactly what real people do when buying a house. Pgh merely has a lot of old,small houses in neglected areas that really bring the averages down. And if you take into account the whole cost of ownership including taxes and updates & repairs, even less chance its below avg.


If you don't mind old houses, and are not picky about your neighborhood though, Pgh does have lots of bargains still available.