Raleigh-Cary metro area unemployment continues to rise

[m378]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Have you been to other US cities where the wages actually do not support their markets? Raleigh is nowhere near the crisis of housing affordability that's prevalent in many major cities.

I was going to say something similar. Places like parts of California and the Northeast for example still manage to increase housing prices no matter how "unaffordable" they are.

The sky is not falling.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Have you been to other US cities where the wages actually do not support their markets? Raleigh is nowhere near the crisis of housing affordability that's prevalent in many major cities.

*Cough* S FL *cough*

[rnc2mbfl]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

*Cough* S FL *cough*

Yeah. South Florida housing prices are often double the Triangle with salaries that are halved.

[michgc]

Originally Posted by rnc2mbfl

Yeah. South Florida housing prices are often double the Triangle with salaries that are halved.

Yes, but a lot of South Florida homes are vacation homes owned by out-of-staters who are usually high-wealth or by retirees who have high wealth but not necessarily high income, so it's really hard to do an apples to apples comparison. They are two totally different types of markets.

[m378]

Originally Posted by michgc

Yes, but a lot of South Florida homes are vacation homes owned by out-of-staters who are usually high-wealth or by retirees who have high wealth but not necessarily high income, so it's really hard to do an apples to apples comparison. They are two totally different types of markets.

This

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by michgc

Yes, but a lot of South Florida homes are vacation homes owned by out-of-staters who are usually high-wealth or by retirees who have high wealth but not necessarily high income, so it's really hard to do an apples to apples comparison. They are two totally different types of markets.

I do agree with that assement but the "working folk" still have to live somewhere. Down there, as in CA, a 300k neighborhood is mostly low income immigrant living 10 to a house with cars parked all over the yards. You can go north and west and it gets cheaper, but you'd be far away from the job centers.

FL traditionally has been a cheap place to live until recently. Wages were low but so were house prices.

My in laws sold their home for $650k in 2007 after buying it for $160k in 1992. When they bought it, she was a teacher and he worked at the port. They immigrated from outside the US. It was later repo'd and sold at auction for $150k. What used to be a nice neighborhood has also completely gone downhill. Anything below 400-500k in most FL beach towns is "iffy".

As in most places now, the 3x income for a true middle/median income household doesn't net you much of a house.

Raleigh from a COL and jobs standpoint is far preferable to many other areas around the country. It's a solid, if not boring, choice to settle down in.