Yahoo Finace: Hampton Roads is ranked 4th in cities where "Americans are getting richer." (Virginia Beach: real estate)

[cityboi757]

Yahoo! Finance - Business Finance, Stock Market, Quotes, News (http://customsites.yahoo.com/financiallyfit/finance/article-108408-3534-0-cities-where-americans-are-getting-richer-html?ywaad=ad0035 - broken link)

Photos: Cities Where Americans Are Getting Richer

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© Walter Bibikow/GettyImages[/RIGHT]


1. El Paso, Texas
Median Pay, 2005:$41,100
Median Pay, 2009:$49,100
Median Pay Trend:19.39%
Unemployment Rate:9.5%





2. Bakersfield, Calif.
Median Pay, 2005:$51,300
Median Pay, 2009:$60,900
Median Pay Trend:18.52%
Unemployment Rate:14.5%



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© Thinkstock/GettyImages [/RIGHT]


3. Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA
Median Pay, 2005:$45,500
Median Pay, 2009:$53,900
Median Pay Trend:18.39%
Unemployment Rate:4.8%



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© Anne Rippy/GettyImages[/RIGHT]


4. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
Median Pay, 2005:$44,500
Median Pay, 2009:$52,200
Median Pay Trend:17.28%
Unemployment Rate:6.5%



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© Joseph Sohm-Visions of America/GettyImages [/RIGHT]


5. Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA
Median Pay, 2005:$44,800
Median Pay, 2009:$52,500
Median Pay Trend:17.27%
Unemployment Rate:5.7%
Source: Payscale.com

[Erma]

I'm in San Diego right now. Spoke to a lady yesterday who said they paid 250,000 for a 2 bedroom condo...and people complain about the real estate in Va Bch. Amazing! Price of Gas is 2.89 a gallon for unleaded. It'll be great to get back to VA to enjoy what others complain about, not to even mention the traffic we deal with everyday from Coronado to Aero Dr. which is only 10.5 miles. I'll take the traffic at home :-)

[chesapeakesim]

Originally Posted by Erma

I'm in San Diego right now. Spoke to a lady yesterday who said they paid 250,000 for a 2 bedroom condo...and people complain about the real estate in Va Bch. Amazing! Price of Gas is 2.89 a gallon for unleaded. It'll be great to get back to VA to enjoy what others complain about, not to even mention the traffic we deal with everyday from Coronado to Aero Dr. which is only 10.5 miles. I'll take the traffic at home :-)

I don't know, that price isn't that much different than this area, we had a 2 bedroom near us sell for that price. There are even condos down the street that are selling for about $350K.

To HR's biggest cheerleader . . .

That is great the median pay went up that much, but when you factor in that housing went up 100% in the period roughly before that, is this area really any better off? The fact is, we still remain one of the most expensive areas of the country to live when wages are factored in. I think the increase in pay is more impressive in a city like El Paso where the COL is much lower. Wages rose here mostly cause the pay was so low to begin with and employers had to raise it just to keep up with COL.

[rtandc]

I was thinking the same thing 250K is not that much for a condo depending on its location.......

To me the increase of pay can be both a good and bad thing...people may be making more money but all that does is allow businesses to charge more for their goods and services because people can pay more.....it is one of those catch 22 deals

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by rtandc

I was thinking the same thing 250K is not that much for a condo depending on its location.......

To me the increase of pay can be both a good and bad thing...people may be making more money but all that does is allow businesses to charge more for their goods and services because people can pay more.....it is one of those catch 22 deals

Not neccessarily. This country has dozens of metro areas where the COL is less, and the salary is more then Hampton Roads. Rising salaries do not have to be met with rising costs. Instead, the gini index can simply drop, and income can become better distributed.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by cityboi757

4. Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC
Median Pay, 2005:$44,500
Median Pay, 2009:$52,200
Median Pay Trend:17.28%
Unemployment Rate:6.5%

Your posting is highly misleading as usual

The first line of that article reads

Incomes for educated workers are growing fastest in these metros

The problem with that is that it doesn't include three huge factors

1. What percentage of jobs actually require educated workers
2. What is the age distribution of the college workers. For instance, I can bet you money, the average person employed in Hampton Roads in a job actually requiring a degree, is much older then in cities such as NYC or San Francisco.
3. How many of those "1.5 million people surveyed" are actually even from Hampton Roads. The sample population could have been so incredibly small that the results are statistically insignificant.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

Interesting trend. If it keeps up absolute income will bypass Bakersfield. At the current unemployment rate Bakersfield income growth will slow dramatically. Once you intrude into California pay scales you are talking serious wealth. The challenge will be to keep housing stock growing without over building and allowing poor quality of stock.

[Erma]

Originally Posted by rtandc

I was thinking the same thing 250K is not that much for a condo depending on its location.......

To me the increase of pay can be both a good and bad thing...people may be making more money but all that does is allow businesses to charge more for their goods and services because people can pay more.....it is one of those catch 22 deals

If you know the area to which these are selling for, an how on top of each other the houses are, you would think 250K is too much. Even Coronado has some pretty shabby looking places and some neighborhood parks that are questionable, especially with the graffiti.

[telemonster]

man this busted site dumped my reply cause I wasnt logged in. Prices are stupid here, as they are in San Diego. Both are .mil towns. Maybe the overpriced real estate is related to easy loans for military. Much of the better paying middle class jobs are govt or govt contractor. So it's not really a net gain for our country, it's just more debt. And the good people that work at these jobs seem to generally dislike them.