4 ms·

I think the market is over-exuberant right now for sure, but I also feel that people like the Bay Area because the Bay Area is an exceedingly pleasant place to

I think the market is over-exuberant right now for sure, but I also feel that people like the Bay Area because the Bay Area is an exceedingly pleasant place to live. This market has hit a little perfect storm of pricing and may correct, but I think the longview is that Bay Area housing prices will just keep marching up. A lot of the price of homes is the land, which means that (barring local regulation) homes will begin to be built up a lot more. Already on my residential street there is a 7 story live/work building going in where a pottery store used to be. Density will lower renting costs but the land itself will remain valuable.

superuser2 10y ago
It won't be an exceedingly pleasant place to live when there's no salary left over for food after taxes and rent.
- mmanfrin 10y ago
  after taxes and rent If you have no money left over for food after rent, do not live here -- full stop. If you have no money left over after taxes, then you are doing your witholding wrong. And the Bay Area isn't some zone-of-enormous-taxation. We've got like 2% more sales tax and maybe 4% for restaurants who are passing on the medical buck.
  - superuser2 10y ago
    I am not referring to the present, but the hypothetical "prices continue to rise" the parent comment mentioned.
sliverstorm 10y ago
A lot of the price of homes is the land, which means that (barring local regulation) homes will begin to be built up a lot more. It might seem that way, but I've come to believe it's the other way around. When land is cheap, people build lavish houses (see the midwest). When land is unholy expensive, people are devoting every dime just to get the plot, they can't afford to build a nice house. Similar to how (this is hearsay) new development is more lavish in times when mortgage interest rates are low, and more spartan when rates are high. Buyers who must devote more of their payment to interest, have proportionally less to spend on the property.
- jdmichal 10y ago
  I believe GP meant built-up as in denser multi-family buildings, not sparser single-family buildings.
mason240 10y ago
>but I also feel that people like the Bay Area because the Bay Area has exceedingly become a status symbol.
- mmanfrin 10y ago
  Right, because that's a new thing.

superuser2 10y ago

It won't be an exceedingly pleasant place to live when there's no salary left over for food after taxes and rent.

mmanfrin 10y ago
after taxes and rent If you have no money left over for food after rent, do not live here -- full stop. If you have no money left over after taxes, then you are doing your witholding wrong. And the Bay Area isn't some zone-of-enormous-taxation. We've got like 2% more sales tax and maybe 4% for restaurants who are passing on the medical buck.
- superuser2 10y ago
  I am not referring to the present, but the hypothetical "prices continue to rise" the parent comment mentioned.

sliverstorm 10y ago

A lot of the price of homes is the land, which means that (barring local regulation) homes will begin to be built up a lot more. It might seem that way, but I've come to believe it's the other way around. When land is cheap, people build lavish houses (see the midwest). When land is unholy expensive, people are devoting every dime just to get the plot, they can't afford to build a nice house. Similar to how (this is hearsay) new development is more lavish in times when mortgage interest rates are low, and more spartan when rates are high. Buyers who must devote more of their payment to interest, have proportionally less to spend on the property.

jdmichal 10y ago
I believe GP meant built-up as in denser multi-family buildings, not sparser single-family buildings.

mason240 10y ago

>but I also feel that people like the Bay Area because the Bay Area has exceedingly become a status symbol.

mmanfrin 10y ago
Right, because that's a new thing.