Don’t make $235,000? Good luck buying a home in the Bay Area (San Jose: mortgage, refinance)

[ssmaster]

Originally Posted by sserna1982

There are still affordable places in the Bay Area, but many would not dare live among the lower socioeconomic classes. We opted to buy in Highland, Deep East Oakland for ~400K in 2018. It's not where we plan to stay forever, but it was a great way to break into the market. Our home is now worth over 650K. This is a very family oriented community with holiday spirit. We're happy here.

If people aren't able to buy in Rockridge, Uptown, Monclair, or Piedmont they claim unaffordability, but in reality, there is plenty of housing that is still affordable in places like Oakland.

Obviously, it's harder to buy in the most highly coveted zip codes. Everyone wants to live there. I always say you have to start somewhere.

That’s a rough area I would have aimed for a transitional area.

“many would not dare live among the lower socioeconomic classes.”
Sometimes for good reason. Are you a parent?
I live in Oakland and I would not live there if I had children especially preteens or teenagers. As my father told me -you move to an affluent nice neighborhood so you don’t have to worry who your 14 year old daughter is hanging out with.
No one wants their children growing up around children whose parents may be gang affiliated or felons.

Made sense to me.

[Vision67]

Here's The Cheapest Single Family Home For Sale In Martinez

The 695-square-foot residence with a large, freshly landscaped yard and a deck is listed for $450,000.

https://patch.com/california/martine...-sale-martinez

[Vision67]

These Bay Area cities have seen the biggest declines in home prices as mortgage rates rise

https://www.sfchronicle.com/realesta...s-17520993.php

"According to real estate listings website Zillow, typical home values decreased 3% from May to August in the San Francisco metro area, which comprises Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin counties.

But the drop was most pronounced in the San Jose metro, which includes Santa Clara and San Benito counties, with typical home values dropping 6%. That’s much higher than the nationwide decline of 2% for the same period."

"Palo Alto saw the Bay Area’s largest drop in typical home values of 7.1%, from $3.88 million in May to $3.61 million in August. Santa Clara followed closely behind at 6.8%, going from $1.73 million to $1.61 million, and Los Altos home values fell 6.7% from $4.37 million to $4.08 million."

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by sserna1982

There are still affordable places in the Bay Area, but many would not dare live among the lower socioeconomic classes. We opted to buy in Highland, Deep East Oakland for ~400K in 2018. It's not where we plan to stay forever, but it was a great way to break into the market. Our home is now worth over 650K. This is a very family oriented community with holiday spirit. We're happy here.

If people aren't able to buy in Rockridge, Uptown, Monclair, or Piedmont they claim unaffordability, but in reality, there is plenty of housing that is still affordable in places like Oakland.

Obviously, it's harder to buy in the most highly coveted zip codes. Everyone wants to live there. I always say you have to start somewhere.

I think this is an important point, which I've argued before. I bought a lovely house in the Santa Cruz Mtns (arguable as to whether it's "SF Bay Area," but I'm literally a few miles from the Santa Clara County line) for $640K less than a year ago. It's 2br/1ba + bonus room, just shy of 1000sf, recently renovated, and has a nice little yard. Anything comparable just 20-30 minutes down the hill would probably cost double that!

I manage a commute into the valley 4-5x/week with little trouble, in fact it's pretty nice avoiding all the congestion on typical commutes like 85/280. When I tell people where I live, they're always "oMg tHe cOmMutTe!" But you're okay with sitting in bumper-to-bumper up and down 85 every day? Possibly for longer than my drive takes? Mmmmkay.

So yeah, maybe people need to expand their idea of what's a reasonable commute + neighborhood. They think if you're anywhere other than the trendiest zip codes, you might as well not bother. Oh well, my gain their loss. lol

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by ssmaster

That’s a rough area I would have aimed for a transitional area.

“many would not dare live among the lower socioeconomic classes.”
Sometimes for good reason. Are you a parent?
I live in Oakland and I would not live there if I had children especially preteens or teenagers. As my father told me -you move to an affluent nice neighborhood so you don’t have to worry who your 14 year old daughter is hanging out with.
No one wants their children growing up around children whose parents may be gang affiliated or felons.

Made sense to me.

I grew up in San Mateo Park, at the border of Hillsborough, and attended the ritzy private schools. I still hung out with a bad crowd, even dated older boyfriends with criminal records, and got into TONS of trouble as a teenager.

I get your point, but think it would be better made with "do you want them to get shot in a drive-by (or be a victim of any street crimes)." That's a more neighborhood-specific issue, since kids will find their own trouble if they really want it. Regardless of where or how you raise them.

[gizmo980]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Here's The Cheapest Single Family Home For Sale In Martinez

The 695-square-foot residence with a large, freshly landscaped yard and a deck is listed for $450,000.

https://patch.com/california/martine...-sale-martinez

You can get a bigger condo in San Jose for not too much more... decent neighborhood, too. I lived in Almaden Valley (as a renter) for years, and it was quite nice around there.

https://www.realtor.com/realestatean...ixed_view_card

That was just the first link that popped up, too; there are lots more! And if you want a SFH, come to my neck of the literal woods... still plenty to be had for under $700K, as I know since I was in the market (budget of $720K) last year.

[MDude25]

Prices should come down a bit, but yeah obv BA is expensive and for good reasons. It shouldn't come as a surprise.

[Vision67]

Bay Area homes selling below asking price for first time in 10 years

Here's why Bay Area homeowners are receiving lower offers

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/02...e-in-10-years/

"Looking to buy a home in the Bay Area? The odds of scoring a deal could be tipping in your favor.

For the first time in over a decade, homes in the region are selling, on average, for less than the asking prices, according to data from real estate brokerage Redfin.

The milestone reflects a slowdown in the Bay Area’s notoriously scorching housing market as rising mortgage rates squeeze out many would-be buyers and hammer prices. This week, the average rate on a typical 30-year home loan hit 6.3%, double the historic lows during most of the pandemic — when buyers rushed into the market in droves to take advantage of the cheaper mortgages. The higher rate is boosting monthly home payments, sometimes by thousands of dollars."

"Prices across the five core Bay Area counties are down between about 5% and 10% compared to this time last year, and around 25% to 35% under their all-time high in May."

[blameyourself]

Originally Posted by Vision67

Bay Area homes selling below asking price for first time in 10 years

Here's why Bay Area homeowners are receiving lower offers

https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2023/02...e-in-10-years/

"Looking to buy a home in the Bay Area? The odds of scoring a deal could be tipping in your favor.

For the first time in over a decade, homes in the region are selling, on average, for less than the asking prices, according to data from real estate brokerage Redfin.

The milestone reflects a slowdown in the Bay Area’s notoriously scorching housing market as rising mortgage rates squeeze out many would-be buyers and hammer prices. This week, the average rate on a typical 30-year home loan hit 6.3%, double the historic lows during most of the pandemic — when buyers rushed into the market in droves to take advantage of the cheaper mortgages. The higher rate is boosting monthly home payments, sometimes by thousands of dollars."

"Prices across the five core Bay Area counties are down between about 5% and 10% compared to this time last year, and around 25% to 35% under their all-time high in May."

An asking price is not a metric for homes dropping in value. The easiest way to determine that is simply median home price. In addition, there's a good chance that the monthly mortgage hasn't changed much with higher interest rates (the banks simply get the difference). The only real benefit is to cash buyers.

In fact, running some numbers.....

The home buyer who is financing that $1.17 million home in San Francisco at a rate of 6.3% (taken from the article) with 20% down would pay approximately $6,600 per month.

That same home buyer financing a home at $1.26 million at 3.5% (the previous available interest rate in the last couple of years) would pay about $5,600 per month.

That doesn't sound like a lot to cheer about for the standard family financing a home.

[AnythingOutdoors]

Among large metro areas, San Francisco is leading the nation in home price declines.

https://www.businessinsider.com/san-...-market-2023-2