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Old 11-18-2013, 12:37 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
460 posts, read 982,274 times
Reputation: 299

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In the immediate Bay Area in these counties, the median wage is $48,370 as of May 2012 according to BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics):
  • SF
  • Alameda
  • Contra Costa
  • San Mateo
  • Marin
Nationally, the median wage is $34,750. Let's simplify assumptions and say the average house is $350k in one of the Bay Area cities and nationally it is $200k. Housing is 75% more expensive while wages are only 39% higher.
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Old 11-18-2013, 01:03 PM
 
Location: SF Bay Area
18,982 posts, read 32,668,735 times
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For certain fields it probably does (i.e. anything tech related), otherwise I agree. Bay Area is still pretty low on affordability even with higher incomes. Expensive places like DC have a better balance it seems.
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Old 11-18-2013, 02:23 PM
 
Location: State of Transition
102,217 posts, read 107,956,787 times
Reputation: 116166
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngusHsu View Post
In the immediate Bay Area in these counties, the median wage is $48,370 as of May 2012 according to BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics):
  • SF
  • Alameda
  • Contra Costa
  • San Mateo
  • Marin
Nationally, the median wage is $34,750. Let's simplify assumptions and say the average house is $350k in one of the Bay Area cities and nationally it is $200k. Housing is 75% more expensive while wages are only 39% higher.
Is the disparity any better if you compare rents, rather than homeownership?
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Old 11-18-2013, 05:30 PM
 
11 posts, read 46,874 times
Reputation: 16
Rents have gone up just as much as house prices. We live in San Mateo county. When we started renting our house 4 years ago, most 3 bedrooms we saw went for $2100-$2500 (though there were obviously more expensive ones in nicer areas). Now, those same 3 bedroom homes are renting for $3000-$3500, and we have several friends in nicer areas (Foster City) paying over $4000 for outdated 3 bedroom homes. We are looking at moving, but it's not looking like it's going to happen because in that same 4 years our income has barely gone up. Most of our friends are in our same situation and we're all barely staying afloat just trying to pay our housing costs. It's gotten insane the last 2 years!

Also, I know you were just throwing a number out for comparisons, but there is NO WAY (at least in San Mateo) that you could find anything more than a bare cardboard box for $350k. 3 bedroom homes with 1050 sq ft in my neighborhood are being listed for around $600k and selling for between $700-800k within a week. What I want to know is who all these people are that can afford to pay such over inflated prices!
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Old 11-18-2013, 06:01 PM
 
84 posts, read 110,333 times
Reputation: 88
foreign investors perhaps? Its a win/win for everyone: the rich Chinese & Russians get to play with American RE, American sellers make money, American landlords make money due to the increased demand, and the common American gets priced into homelessness.
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Old 11-18-2013, 08:46 PM
 
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,585 posts, read 81,225,683 times
Reputation: 57824
Quote:
Originally Posted by AngusHsu View Post
In the immediate Bay Area in these counties, the median wage is $48,370 as of May 2012 according to BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics):
  • SF
  • Alameda
  • Contra Costa
  • San Mateo
  • Marin
Nationally, the median wage is $34,750. Let's simplify assumptions and say the average house is $350k in one of the Bay Area cities and nationally it is $200k. Housing is 75% more expensive while wages are only 39% higher.
Those figure have me confused. I just went to the BLS site and it shows the whole state of CA average salary at $54,000. Here in King County (Seattle area) the average wage is over $70,000, and the median home price is $440,000. There were not many homes in the bay area for $350 even back when we lived there, and I know people there now with $600,000 homes that are 60 years old, 2 BR 1 bath 1,000 sf.
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Old 11-19-2013, 12:09 PM
 
Location: Liminal Space
1,023 posts, read 1,552,666 times
Reputation: 1324
This type of question is frequently studied in a more systematic way. One recent example is here.

As you suspected, this study found San Francisco as the least affordable metro area in the country, with only 14% of available homes being affordable at the median household income of $78,840. Since they used MSA definitions San Jose is listed separately at #6. Metro areas in Ohio and Indiana top the list of most affordable areas.
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Old 11-19-2013, 03:01 PM
 
Location: Los Angeles
460 posts, read 982,274 times
Reputation: 299
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140 View Post
Those figure have me confused. I just went to the BLS site and it shows the whole state of CA average salary at $54,000. Here in King County (Seattle area) the average wage is over $70,000, and the median home price is $440,000. There were not many homes in the bay area for $350 even back when we lived there, and I know people there now with $600,000 homes that are 60 years old, 2 BR 1 bath 1,000 sf.
You are confusing median household income and median income for one person.
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