San Diego home affordability analysis by a non-expert (San Francisco: real estate, 2014)

[expatCA]

Originally Posted by loveautumn

25% of monthly income for housing is way low in SD. Realistically, 35-40% and some pay more than that. And rents are rising here a lot.

Yes as income rises the amount you can spend on a mortgage rises also. Normal bills usually are pretty stable so as income rises more is available for a mortgage. Remember a person making $60,000.00 and buying just the cheapest he can find can make $80,000.00 and have nearly every extra dollar available for a higher mortgage/better house, etc. Unless he buys a new Car and every little thing he wants for ego boosting, the extra after tax income can be used for the mortgage and related costs. It comes down to what you want and what you can afford.

[Oboe700]

Originally Posted by hitman619

I'm about to dish out some, "Tough Love" in Here.
I'm Getting really Tired of these threads. Yes, San Diego housing is high, and yes it will continue to stay high.
If you think this is Bad Try NYC, SF Bay Area. I subscribe to the Principles of,"Crawl before you walk".
Either Buy a Condo of some sort, or rent and save your damn money for a down payment
Buying in Owning a home in San Diego Is not easy, but it is doable. If it was easy, every Bum would want to come here.
If you want cheap housing mixed with sunshine, and unattainable women Move to Florida

There is absolutely nothing wrong with complaining about the high cost of X, Y or Z.
There is such a thing as something being way too expensive for what it should actually be worth. When a lot of people start complaining and posting the same kind of thread, it means that the majority of people are coming to the same conclusion ...... The prices are unjustifiably too high.

Yeah we have sunshine, but there aren't crude oil deposits in the yards of all these ridiculously expensive homes.

Most folks just want reasonable prices for homes, not cheap homes. San Diego is unreasonable. So is SF, NYC, DC. There is nothing wrong with pointing this out. Over and Over again if need be.

Also, based on median income, most can't "save up" for a down payment. By the time they are done, the prices in Kearny Mesa will be $1million for a 1br at this rate.

[NYSD1995]

NYC, SF are less unreasonable to me because they have lots and lots of high paying jobs. SD is priced like Aspen or the Hamptons, i.e. Underlying economy can't support the home prices but desirability of location does.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Originally Posted by Sassberto

NYC, SF are less unreasonable to me because they have lots and lots of high paying jobs. SD is priced like Aspen or the Hamptons, i.e. Underlying economy can't support the home prices but desirability of location does.

Hopefully this will change as we build closer economic ties with our neighbor, Tijuana and to a greater extent, Baja and Mainland Mexico. Throw into the mix a growing creative and entrepreneurial class, and San Diego's resurgence into more affordable housing and density, I'd say this city has a shot of becoming a true economic powerhouse.

[elchevere]

Out of curiosity, what high paying industries do you expect to come out of the SD/Baja Mexico relationship?...guess Im not as optimistic....this aside, I think SD needs more Qualcomms and biotech to explode (keeping in mind the Bay Area is an incubator for this industry as well with many more VC firms right in their backyard) than we need mom and pop or 10-15 employee small businesses...then again, we can look to the success OC has had in the past 2 decades, though they have the benefit of being able to suck off of LA's **** due to closer proximity.

[LuvSouthOC]

I agree on the scepticism that more commerce with Baja will result in high paying jobs.

San Diego does have a few amazing small firms. One such company is Cali Bamboo.

[The Flying Dutchman]

Originally Posted by elchevere

Out of curiosity, what high paying industries do you expect to come out of the SD/Baja Mexico relationship?...guess Im not as optimistic....this aside, I think SD needs more Qualcomms and biotech to explode (keeping in mind the Bay Area is an incubator for this industry as well with many more VC firms right in their backyard) than we need mom and pop or 10-15 employee small businesses...then again, we can look to the success OC has had in the past 2 decades, though they have the benefit of being able to suck off of LA's **** due to closer proximity.

Closer economic ties with Baja are coming for a lot of reasons. We are a service-based economy that has fully matured, while Mexico is somewhere between a developing/industrialized economy. Service based economies demand low cost, manufactured goods in order to thrive. Guess why China has driven U.S. growth for decades? All economies go through this process of subsistence >> developing >> industrialization >> service-based. Since China is trying desperately to build a middle class, the demand for low cost, manufactured goods will be offset elsewhere in other countries that can provide it.

San Diego enjoys (yes, we really are lucky) to have one of the world's greatest untapped resources right on our doorstep. If anything, San Diego will be "leeching" off of Mexico as they develop into a stronger economy. Do they have their issues? Sure, but who doesn't? However, I honestly believe that a close partnership with Baja and the rest of the country is a *HUGE* opportunity for San Diego as well as Mexico.

San Diego will continue to be a powerhouse in the traditional sectors, like biotech, healthcare, and the DoD, but we really do need to provide more middle class jobs. Those are being lost because the traditional providers of middle class jobs has been in manufacturing and small businesses, which have been lost to outsourcing for the most part. Creating a powerful local economy with Mexico would go a long way to alleviating that issue.

Now, these aren't even our biggest worries. The real worry is the replacement of human labor with technology and automation. That's a real kicker.

[Cardiff Kook]

Some good info and food for thought in this thread...specifically this most recent page!

[NYSD1995]

Mexico is one of the poorest countries in the world, and Tijuana is one of the poorest cities in MX, I guess I just don't understand how they are going to create jobs in the US.

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Originally Posted by elchevere

Out of curiosity, what high paying industries do you expect to come out of the SD/Baja Mexico relationship?...guess Im not as optimistic....this aside, I think SD needs more Qualcomms and biotech to explode (keeping in mind the Bay Area is an incubator for this industry as well with many more VC firms right in their backyard) than we need mom and pop or 10-15 employee small businesses...then again, we can look to the success OC has had in the past 2 decades, though they have the benefit of being able to suck off of LA's **** due to closer proximity.

One possibility would be Desal. It would be a way around the Nimbys here in the US. For that matter I guess the US could push other energy sources like Nuclear right across the border. IMO the Saltine Sea could be saved by water from the Gulf as it's the closest source and closest to sea level.

As far as jobs, probably not many.