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Median Days on the Market, 2016:
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale: 81 days
- New York: 67 days
- Cleveland: 65 days
- Las Vegas: 63 days
- Tampa: 59 days
- Charlotte: 57 days
- Phoenix: 56 days
- Houston: 55 days
- Chicago: 54 days
- Atlanta: 46 days
- Boston: 45 days
- Detroit: 44 days
- Washington, D.C.: 44 days
- Los Angeles: 42 days
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul: 40 days
- San Diego: 40 days
- Dallas-Fort Worth: 39 days
- Portland: 36 days
- Denver: 29 days
- San Francisco-Oakland: 29 days
- Seattle: 29 days
Number of Active Listings, 2016:
- New York: 92,000
- Chicago: 64,000
- Miami-Fort Lauderdale: 51,000
- Atlanta: 48,000
- Houston: 26,000
- Los Angeles: 26,000
- Phoenix: 24,000
- Washington, D.C.: 21,000
- Boston: 19,000
- Dallas-Fort Worth: 19,000
- Tampa: 19,000
- Charlotte: 16,000
- Detroit: 16,000
- Las Vegas: 15,000
- Minneapolis-Saint Paul: 15,000
- Cleveland: 11,000
- Denver: 7,000
- San Diego: 7,000
- Portland: 6,000
- San Francisco-Oakland: 6,000
- Seattle: 6,000
Could someone explain why median list prices in Denver are higher than DC and NYC? That seems a little surprising to me.
Denver is a faster growing area (percentage terms) than either of those two with regards to both employment and population. However Denver literally has way less supply of available housing, which is why its active listings number is so low (even for its size). That tends to come in addition to the number of days homes stay on the market being amongst the lowest in the entire country. So lack of supply in housing + quantifiably large demand.
Housing is typically snatched up at a rapid pace in Denver. The previous two years (2015, 2014) the Greater Denver area led the entire United States in price appreciation. It was in the double digits both of those years.
Denver's median listing price is $100,000 higher than the region's actual overall market median price (meaning listed and non-listed homes; all homes). That means that Denver's going to have escalating prices again this year and for the foreseeable future until trends change.
Going by the old rule of thumb that you shouldn't buy a home more than thrice your annual gross income, then you'd need to be making a $285,000 annual salary to afford the typical home in the Bay Area. That's ludicrous! How are firefighters, police officers, teachers, sanitation workers, and all of the other necessary workers who make sub-$100,000 salaries managing to afford to buy their first homes in that area unless their parents are buying houses for them? Insanity!
Is the quality-of-life in the Bay Area truly high enough to justify working multiple jobs to afford a home there unless you're a doctor, attorney, executive, or tech guru?!
That rule of thumb wasn't written for today's interest rates -- if three used to be ok, four might be now. Also that was probably about the mortgage, not the sale price.
This list is very different from the others I've seen. I have a feeling their samples are different types from one city to the next. When something seems wrong it often is.
Going by the old rule of thumb that you shouldn't buy a home more than thrice your annual gross income, then you'd need to be making a $285,000 annual salary to afford the typical home in the Bay Area. That's ludicrous! How are firefighters, police officers, teachers, sanitation workers, and all of the other necessary workers who make sub-$100,000 salaries managing to afford to buy their first homes in that area unless their parents are buying houses for them? Insanity!
Is the quality-of-life in the Bay Area truly high enough to justify working multiple jobs to afford a home there unless you're a doctor, attorney, executive, or tech guru?!
They're either renting, and even with that, likely doubling or tripling up with roommates well past the age this typically occurs because the rents are outrageous as well. Or they're commuting long distances or from less desirable areas in the Bay Area, and probably still paying a very high price relative to most of the US. I have the same reaction, though. It's been pretty outrageous for a while, and has only gotten more so. And keep in mind this is for the metro area, not just the most expensive cities.
Detroit's is as high as it is because it includes the metro area and not just Detroit proper, where you can easily find a home on the cheap, but property taxes are pretty high.
Going by the old rule of thumb that you shouldn't buy a home more than thrice your annual gross income, then you'd need to be making a $285,000 annual salary to afford the typical home in the Bay Area. That's ludicrous! How are firefighters, police officers, teachers, sanitation workers, and all of the other necessary workers who make sub-$100,000 salaries managing to afford to buy their first homes in that area unless their parents are buying houses for them? Insanity!
Is the quality-of-life in the Bay Area truly high enough to justify working multiple jobs to afford a home there unless you're a doctor, attorney, executive, or tech guru?!
Well most firefighters and police officers are making $100K or more with overtime. But yeah pretty hard for nurses, teachers, etc..overall. With a two income household it's not that hard to earn $150-200K+ though. But even households who earn that much would probably have to buy in a lower middle to average middle class area for their first home if it's a SFH. You'll likely have to make some sacrifices to break into the housing market here.
Also for trade up/move up buyers they likely have a rather large down payment from equity in their current/previous home. Also families do help with down payments.
Not trying to downplay how incredibly over priced it is and how hard it is to be a first time home buyer just explaining how some people do it. Unless you have a great career or family/close ties to the area probably not worth the cost for QOL imo.
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