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The Bay Area is absolutely insane. I was just looking at zillow -- You can get okay places in the New York City area half what a median Bay Area house costs. It's got to be one of the most outrageous housing markets in the world.
Seattle too...
You can make $70k a year (I do) and still not be able to afford a 1 BR.
Saw a piece on the news just a few days ago... Seattle home prices have risen 74% in the last 5 years... median price $666,000.
A few years ago an old high school buddy of mine found himself with a blended family of 6 kids and 2 adults. He was an over-the-road driver, but left the road and bought a house in Minot - 6000 sf 8 bedroom 4.5 bath for $165k, and went to work for a defense contractor. That was before the Bakken boom. You can still find reasonably priced housing in areas with stable or declining population. Contrary to popular mythology, there are jobs everywhere that allow a comfortable middle class existence.
Sort of. What my wife and I found is that there's a significant "two-body problem" in smaller towns & isolated areas. Either one of us could find a decent job in our field, but the other one would struggle to find something not service or retail-related. We ended up getting pretty lucky where we are. Although she's still working below her salary potential, at least she found something in her field.
A single person can put his or her mind to it with a little flexibility and go pretty much anywhere in the country.
Colorado will likely have much greater economic growth than Kansas for some time to come, so much of it is a supply and demand issue as to why housing is appreciating much faster in CO.
Agree completely. My city, Topeka, has historically had a very stable housing market and it's entirely possible to get a good 3 bed, 2 bath home for under $150K in a good neighborhood. In the housing bubble back on 2008, our home prices hardly fell at all, but it was a difficult time to sell, but most people seemed to just hold on to their homes.
Edit: There are cities all over the Midwest where one can find a good home for under $150K in a good neighborhood. The trade-offs are, you likely won't be making $75K+ a year and the location won't be a nearly as interesting as many coastal or mountain states/cities. But I make about $50K a year, which is above average here, and with our paid off home and a LCOL area, that leaves us tons of money for savings, retirement, vacations, travelling, etc. We do eventually want to move to somewhere more interesting, so our plan is to save for the next 10 years and buy a house when we turn 40ish in a better location.
Those millennials are wanting houses just like mom and dad own now. 4000 sf, granite, stainless. No starter homes for them.
The market is building very few new homes historically, and the vast majority are not anything anyone would call a starter home, and mostly due to city regulations, not due to the whims of the 'market'.
They say America is dealing better with the 2008 recession by printing a lot more money than us but when I see these prices in housing I think the other way
economy is labour, innovation, salaries and stuff not housing speculation, that's feudalism
I'm glad here housing prices since 2008 have halved (save a few expceptions)
They say America is dealing better with the 2008 recession by printing a lot more money than us but when I see these prices in housing I think the other way
economy is labour, innovation, salaries and stuff not housing speculation, that's feudalism
I'm glad here housing prices since 2008 have halved (save a few expceptions)
I agree that the USA had less austere policies post crash and suffered less. Having monetary sovereignty made the process easier than most of Europe.
All our kids own where they live in the tristate area.
They all found places that fit their income. The places range from upscale scarsdale in westchester ,one of the most expensive towns to live in the country . To howard beach queens a squarely middle to upper middle class area in nyc and then one in new jersey , an upper middle class neighborhood there
All 3 kids and spouses earn very different incomes and all found housing that fits their budgets
Out of curiosity, which three states are the tristate area?
Location: New Albany, Indiana (Greater Louisville)
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Don't forget the insurance industry always profits from astronomical home prices. When you owe $500k on your mortgage you have to spend a ton on life insurance because one income can't pay the bills if one spouse dies. My wife and I can forgo large life insurance policies because one person on unemployment could cover our $350 a month mortgage.
We have a Reverse Robin Hood system: take from the poor and give to the rich - in the form of bank fees, interest, bailouts for billionaires but not average Joe, etc.
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