Why Is NoVA Housing So Expensive..... (new home, buying, good schools)

[Timing2012]

There are tons of empty land with nothing but trees, unlike Tokyo or Hong Kong or New York where every piece of land is being used.

[MiddleClassAmericaDOTORG]

HI,

Zoning laws generally makes things more expensive by making it difficult (or impossible) to divide larger parcels into smaller more affordable ones...then all that's left is the law of supply and demand

Andrew

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by Timing2012

There are tons of empty land with nothing but trees, unlike Tokyo or Hong Kong or New York where every piece of land is being used.

Aren't you comparing apples and oranges? NoVA is made up of suburbs and exurbs of DC. There are tons of empty land in the suburbs and exurbs of New York (ever taken the train up there through all that empty marsh land within view of the city?). There's a lot of empty land around Tokyo (again, ever taken the train from Narita to downtown?) used for farming but it's still non-residential.

People with good incomes want to live close to downtown so bid up the price. There's plenty of inexpensive housing in NoVA if you don't mind driving more than 50 miles to the job centers.

[newnewsmama]

Originally Posted by Timing2012

There are tons of empty land with nothing but trees, unlike Tokyo or Hong Kong or New York where every piece of land is being used.

That's why housing in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and New York is a lot more expensive. What you pay for an average house in NOVA can get you a parking lot in Hong Kong.

[FindingZen]

As suggested, the demand from well-compensated workers (on average) outstrips the supply of housing convenient to work, play and "good schools". The smart growth zoning policy in western Loudoun County requires high minimum acreage, thereby increasing the pressure further inward and motivating some households to leapfrog over to West Virginia.

[jillybean720]

The land itself is also quite expensive. It's sometimes actually cheaper to buy an old run-down house, tear it down, and rebuild than to buy a piece of empty land to build a new home on. We looked at buying land to build a future home, and it just was cost prohibitive for us.

[NovaOne]

There are a lot of reasons to do a tear down and rebuild vs building on an empty lot. The fact that an existing home is there more or less guarantees that the lot is buildable, with necessary utility connections available for an occupancy permit. You are also less concerned about soil stability, and connecting to a public road for ingress/egress. There are a lot of unknowns for a empty piece of land - there might have been a good reason why no one has built anything on it.

On the flip side, there is extra demolition costs associated with a tear down.

[evilnewbie]

I have thought about a tear down and build something else but i just can't find the courage to buy a 3500 sq feet house built three years ago and reduce it to rubble... It seems like a waste of money to do something like that...

[snowdenscold]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

I have thought about a tear down and build something else but i just can't find the courage to buy a 3500 sq feet house built three years ago and reduce it to rubble... It seems like a waste of money to do something like that...

Is this a joke I'm not really getting?

[CAVA1990]

Originally Posted by evilnewbie

I have thought about a tear down and build something else but i just can't find the courage to buy a 3500 sq feet house built three years ago and reduce it to rubble... It seems like a waste of money to do something like that...

You just have to look away and not think about it.