[acdc]

From: CT.gov Portal
in 2007 its 103K median income to 613K median house - ratio = 1:6
1996 - 42K per capita income ~ 95K median family income, 250 median house price = 1:2.7
2001 - 37K per capita ~ 90K median family income to 393 K median house price. = 1:4

To get back to 2001 ratios at todays 103Kmedian family income housing has to drop to about 400K median for 1:4 ratio

Does that make sense to others or am i missing something. We need to see fall of 30% housing prices from bubble peaks to be inline with reality of 2001?

Also does that 103K make sense, people look so much richer and definitely snootier around here.

[trishguard]

Do you have a direct link to your figures?

CONNECTICUT STATE MEDIAN INCOME: 2008 (http://www.211ct.org/InformationLibrary/Documents/StateMedianIncome2008.asp - broken link)

[hsw]

Median house prices mean little....many higher-end (>$5MM) houses are cleverly kept out of public records

Median incomes mean even less....need to see IRS tax return data, not silly self-reported census data....and many business owners, incl hedge fund owners, are able to legally report a "tax-advantaged" income on their tax returns

House prices tumbled some 40% in the early '90s recession

Housing prices tend to be a slow-motion, multi-yr process in any deep recession....after all, no one needs a >6K sq ft new house in Greenwich backcountry....and many w/resources already live in a tolerable house in Greenwich and will watch prices fall further before buying desirable land to build what they desire in a new-tech, bespoke house, not some crappy spec house on dubious land

Today's credit crisis is far worse; layoffs in NYC/Greenwich financial industry may be more severe; and many newly-built (and partially built), unsold spec houses litter Greenwich and NewCanaan....many banks haven't had time to get around to high-end foreclosures in Greenwich (FL/NV/CA/MI/OH have kept 'em busy....and the formerly rich tend to have more lawyers to delay the process).....draw your own conclusions

[acdc]

DECD: DECD: All Connecticut Town Profiles - got my data from there. If that link does not show up google "fairfield ct median income ct.gov" and look for the link that goes like DECDECD I am trusting ct.gov to have semi-accurate data should atleast indicate trending to a good enough level.
Median is not skewed by variances, it represents the 50th percentile home. But i agree in principal with hsw and will wait on the side line for an inflection point or something close to that before buying.