How do people afford to live in CA (San Francisco, Fremont: credit, homes)

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Many would beg to differ, and have.

https://www.ocregister.com/2017/03/1...rn-california/

//www.city-data.com/forum/orang...d-live-oc.html

Sorry, I don't have access OC Register. And if you think a thread of people complaining about not being able to afford homes is somehow supportive of your argument, I really don't know what to tell you... The proof, however, is in the pudding. Go look at sales data and who is buying homes. Talk to a realtor and see what they tell you.

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Duarte, Monrovia, Whittier and Pasadena are all in Los Angeles County, and the median home price in L.A. County (especially those particular cities) is much lower than Orange County.

1)LA County is is lower than Orange County, but that is completely irrelevant and has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion. I mean if the areas I had listed were Palmdale, Lancaster, and Quartz Hills, then maybe you would have a point. But I didn't. Furthermore it's factually incorrect that all of "those particular cities" are much lower than the average home value in Orange County of $721,400. Below is a list of all the cities I mentioned in my statement (as well as Orange County and LA County) and their average home value. Care to revise your statement? Also, I find it laughable that you made the comment above even when I included Pacific Palisades on my list of cities which is more expensive than Laguna Beach or Newport Beach (two most expensive areas in Orange County). I mean really? Talk about missing the forest for the trees.


2) So what? I also listed a handful of OC cities. How does the fact I also listed LA County cities somehow disprove the fact I know millennials buying in OC? It doesn't. And yes, I am well aware that the people I am friends with are not average. However, in a county with over 3 million people and only 1,00,000 total housing units, the "average" person is not going to be able to afford to buy the "average" house. It's the same scenario in Seattle, Austin, NoVA or other high income areas.

I already explained the a reasonable income requirement for someone to fairly responsibly buy a house of $600K (approximately 15% below average of $720K) in Orange County. It's approximately $120K (approximately 40% higher than median of $86K). Sadly I can't use a standard normal distribution to determine what % of families are at the $120,000 or higher amount because HH icomes will always be significantly right skewed. But I would guess it's probably between 20%-25%.

If you want to argue that is should be lower. Go for it. I'm just stating the facts as they stand now.

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Exactly.

Yes that's called a mortgage. We've had them for several decades.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by bad debt

LA County is is lower than Orange County, but that is completely irrelevant and has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion.

Of course it does. This is the Orange County sub forum.

Originally Posted by bad debt

Yes that's called a mortgage. We've had them for several decades.

Really? After buying and selling multiple homes over many years, I must not have heard.

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Of course it does. This is the Orange County sub forum.

Since it's obvious you didn't actually read this I'll post it again.


1)LA County is is lower than Orange County, but that is completely irrelevant and has absolutely nothing to do with this discussion. I mean if the areas I had listed were Palmdale, Lancaster, and Quartz Hills, then maybe you would have a point. But I didn't. Furthermore it's factually incorrect that all of "those particular cities" are much lower than the average home value in Orange County of $721,400. Below is a list of all the cities I mentioned in my statement (as well as Orange County and LA County) and their average home value. Care to revise your statement? Also, I find it laughable that you made the comment above even when I included Pacific Palisades on my list of cities which is more expensive than Laguna Beach or Newport Beach (two most expensive areas in Orange County). I mean really? Talk about missing the forest for the trees.


2) So what? I also listed a handful of OC cities. How does the fact I also listed LA County cities somehow disprove the fact I know millennials buying in OC? It doesn't. And yes, I am well aware that the people I am friends with are not average. However, in a county with over 3 million people and only 1,00,000 total housing units, the "average" person is not going to be able to afford to buy the "average" house. It's the same scenario in Seattle, Austin, NoVA or other high income areas.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by Finper

what do you do if your not married??

Many single people can't buy today.

"Natalie Oshin is a newly minted attorney working as a contract specialist for an Irvine real estate firm. But rising rents and student loans curbed her ability to save for a home.

After spending six to eight months hunting for a townhome or a condo with her father, Oshin, 29, abandoned her search. The only places she could afford were older condos. And she would need a roommate to cover the house payments.

“I gave up on buying a home,” Oshin said. “I just think the options are really hard to live in. They’re really old. … The prices are way too high. The square footage of the places where I looked, they’re really small. I think that wages are just not keeping up with the cost of living in this area.”

Oshin said she’s going to wait until she has a partner or a fiancé before she starts home shopping again.

“I need a second income,” she said.

Millennials like Oshin aren’t the only ones struggling to buy their very first home.

Orange resident Daniel Zogaib, 57, makes a six-figure salary as an engineer but still can’t find a house he can afford. Like Oshin, Zogaib needs a second income to have enough to get a home in Orange or Los Angeles counties.

Zogaib could afford houses back when he first started thinking about buying in 2009. But he didn’t have enough for a down payment then. By the time he had saved enough money, prices had exceeded his $600,000 price range."

Losing sight of the American dream: Southern California home prices rising 4 times faster than wages:
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/2...er-than-wages/

[bad debt]

Originally Posted by CA4Now

Many single people can't buy today.

"Natalie Oshin is a newly minted attorney working as a contract specialist for an Irvine real estate firm. But rising rents and student loans curbed her ability to save for a home.

After spending six to eight months hunting for a townhome or a condo with her father, Oshin, 29, abandoned her search. The only places she could afford were older condos. And she would need a roommate to cover the house payments.

“I gave up on buying a home,” Oshin said. “I just think the options are really hard to live in. They’re really old. … The prices are way too high. The square footage of the places where I looked, they’re really small. I think that wages are just not keeping up with the cost of living in this area.”

Oshin said she’s going to wait until she has a partner or a fiancé before she starts home shopping again.

“I need a second income,” she said.

Millennials like Oshin aren’t the only ones struggling to buy their very first home.

Orange resident Daniel Zogaib, 57, makes a six-figure salary as an engineer but still can’t find a house he can afford. Like Oshin, Zogaib needs a second income to have enough to get a home in Orange or Los Angeles counties.

Zogaib could afford houses back when he first started thinking about buying in 2009. But he didn’t have enough for a down payment then. By the time he had saved enough money, prices had exceeded his $600,000 price range."

Losing sight of the American dream: Southern California home prices rising 4 times faster than wages:
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/2...er-than-wages/

"Zogaib isn’t willing to buy a condo. And he’s not willing to commute from the Inland Empire to his job in Cypress."

Typical Millennial attitude right there. Instant gratification and no understanding of sacrificing now for future gain.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by bad debt

"Zogaib isn’t willing to buy a condo. And he’s not willing to commute from the Inland Empire to his job in Cypress."

Typical Millennial attitude right there. Instant gratification and no understanding of sacrificing now for future gain.

Except that he's not a millennial; he's 57.

[jcp123]

I mean, white collar incomes are much higher in any expensive place including California. If you’re not white collar though, it’s a cycle of roommates and such. And I’ll wager CA has a higher number of two-income households than a lot of places.

We were lucky that my parents bought in the 80s, so that by the 90s, their incomes and equity had risen to where housing wasn’t a big cost factor. Starting out in CA will take gumption though if you aren’t pulling down a pretty decent job, though.

[Kevroqs]

Originally Posted by BGS91762

Yes but more people from Asia keep coming because the LA area is so cheap compared to their countries.

The only cheap you're going to get in the LA area is in Palmdale/Lancaster

[mysticaltyger]

Originally Posted by HB2HSV

The poor and lower middle class are already out of home ownership anyway. They will be forever renters which is just fine by the State.

True. Now the upper middle class is being priced out of homeownership. Many of them vote for the very policies that prevent them from being homeowners.