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> Avg income in my neighborhood is ~49k but a 2 bed condo here are selling for 450K and getting outbid by 75k over the asking price. Its insane. Sure, and your

> Avg income in my neighborhood is ~49k but a 2 bed condo here are selling for 450K and getting outbid by 75k over the asking price. Its insane. Sure, and your point about housing prices mattering is a good one (see my other comment on this story). But, this describes maybe a few dozen housing markets. Probably only a couple dozen if you cut out resort/ski towns. It's a regional problem, not systemic problem with the national economy.

dominotw 6y ago
> But, this describes maybe a few dozen housing markets. Its a national problem https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market 'few dozen' is what like 3 dozens? Assuming its a problem only in 36 markets. Wouldn't that be a 'national problem' ? 36 markets should covers a majority of population in the country.
- throwawaygh 6y ago
  Because relatively few regional housing markets have non-luxury 2 bed condos going for $525,000 (75K over 450K, per your original post). E.g., in the Midwest you'd have to be in a nice part of Chicago or choosing the most expensive city neighborhood of a mid-sized city to find a meaningful number of $525K 2 bed condos. And even then, spending that much on a condo is 100% an unnecessary luxury. 10 minutes in any direction prices will crater, and by the time you get to the suburbs starter homes are from the $200s and $525K is a mansion. For the entirety of the midwest and most parts of the south. Even on the coasts $525K for a 2 bed condo is a Big City thing. E.g., $500-$700K is the going rate for 2 bed condos in most of Boston, but drive an hour away from Boston in any direction? Not so much. Hell, even Wakefield has a 2 bed condo below $300K and that's only a 25 minute drive. And that's one of the more expensive housing markets in the US. Living 20 minutes from major city centers via public transit has become a luxury, sure. But it's just not accurate to say that $525K for a 2 bed condo is "normal" in the US. It's not. It's quite specific to a very high CoL markets.
  - dominotw 6y ago
    Ah yea i see what you mean. that might be an exception to suburbs of altanta. It was just an example of insanity of housing market in USA. I was not implying that the going price of condo.
  - ok_coo 6y ago
    Our old apartment in Chicago, which was in a nice neighborhood had its rent prices drop by at least $500/month. It might be more now. When I look at real estate in general in Chicago, it's been dropping a little, not a ton, but it's not like how other are describing the huge increase in housing costs in other parts of the country. It seems like there are big regional differences going on with housing costs in the US. Supply/demand and policy I'm guessing are making the difference.
- pizzazzaro 6y ago
  Hint: ask anyone that lives overseas. Australia, Britain, France... anywhere without a Strong public housing subsidy: This problem is Global, because our markets are global. The banks flipping houses for profit without so much as touching the keys? Compete with home owners to treat homes as an 'investment' of a 'commodity'. In the US, there were 7 empty homes for each homeless person before the pandemic. Less than 3% of the stock market now serves the actual economy of production. Might this be the culprit?
jbay808 6y ago
> But, this describes maybe a few dozen housing markets. Probably only a couple dozen if you cut out resort/ski towns. It's a regional problem It, uh, describes all of Canada actually. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-housing-analysis-idUSKBN2AZ0FJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-housing-an...
- throwawaygh 6y ago
  That's totally fair; sorry for assuming the thread was US-centric.
  - freyir 6y ago
    It also describes the most populous US state. The median housing price is now over $700k in California, while the median household income is around $80k.
    - throwawaygh 6y ago
      California is an outlier. Even within California, the $700K number is caused by a few outlier markets.
      - freyir 6y ago
        $700k is the median. The average is even higher, and especially so in “outlier markets” (where outlier here means the cities and surrounding suburbs where most people live). Also, more Americans live in California than any other state. So if it’s an outlier, it’s an especially impactful one.

dominotw 6y ago

> But, this describes maybe a few dozen housing markets. Its a national problem https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market https://www.redfin.com/us-housing-market 'few dozen' is what like 3 dozens? Assuming its a problem only in 36 markets. Wouldn't that be a 'national problem' ? 36 markets should covers a majority of population in the country.

throwawaygh 6y ago
Because relatively few regional housing markets have non-luxury 2 bed condos going for $525,000 (75K over 450K, per your original post). E.g., in the Midwest you'd have to be in a nice part of Chicago or choosing the most expensive city neighborhood of a mid-sized city to find a meaningful number of $525K 2 bed condos. And even then, spending that much on a condo is 100% an unnecessary luxury. 10 minutes in any direction prices will crater, and by the time you get to the suburbs starter homes are from the $200s and $525K is a mansion. For the entirety of the midwest and most parts of the south. Even on the coasts $525K for a 2 bed condo is a Big City thing. E.g., $500-$700K is the going rate for 2 bed condos in most of Boston, but drive an hour away from Boston in any direction? Not so much. Hell, even Wakefield has a 2 bed condo below $300K and that's only a 25 minute drive. And that's one of the more expensive housing markets in the US. Living 20 minutes from major city centers via public transit has become a luxury, sure. But it's just not accurate to say that $525K for a 2 bed condo is "normal" in the US. It's not. It's quite specific to a very high CoL markets.
- dominotw 6y ago
  Ah yea i see what you mean. that might be an exception to suburbs of altanta. It was just an example of insanity of housing market in USA. I was not implying that the going price of condo.
- ok_coo 6y ago
  Our old apartment in Chicago, which was in a nice neighborhood had its rent prices drop by at least $500/month. It might be more now. When I look at real estate in general in Chicago, it's been dropping a little, not a ton, but it's not like how other are describing the huge increase in housing costs in other parts of the country. It seems like there are big regional differences going on with housing costs in the US. Supply/demand and policy I'm guessing are making the difference.
pizzazzaro 6y ago
Hint: ask anyone that lives overseas. Australia, Britain, France... anywhere without a Strong public housing subsidy: This problem is Global, because our markets are global. The banks flipping houses for profit without so much as touching the keys? Compete with home owners to treat homes as an 'investment' of a 'commodity'. In the US, there were 7 empty homes for each homeless person before the pandemic. Less than 3% of the stock market now serves the actual economy of production. Might this be the culprit?

jbay808 6y ago

> But, this describes maybe a few dozen housing markets. Probably only a couple dozen if you cut out resort/ski towns. It's a regional problem It, uh, describes all of Canada actually. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-housing-analysis-idUSKBN2AZ0FJ https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-economy-housing-an...

throwawaygh 6y ago
That's totally fair; sorry for assuming the thread was US-centric.
- freyir 6y ago
  It also describes the most populous US state. The median housing price is now over $700k in California, while the median household income is around $80k.
  - throwawaygh 6y ago
    California is an outlier. Even within California, the $700K number is caused by a few outlier markets.
    - freyir 6y ago
      $700k is the median. The average is even higher, and especially so in “outlier markets” (where outlier here means the cities and surrounding suburbs where most people live). Also, more Americans live in California than any other state. So if it’s an outlier, it’s an especially impactful one.