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Housing is also tricky to really account for correctly. One of the reasons house prices are skyrocketing is people are leaving cities in droves, moving everywhe

Housing is also tricky to really account for correctly. One of the reasons house prices are skyrocketing is people are leaving cities in droves, moving everywhere from near suburbs to places like rural Vermont. One of the main reasons people are doing this is they're realizing the dramatic cost differential between living in the city in a tiny apartment and living in a much larger space outside the city or in a smaller city. This means many people can pay 20-50% over asking, but still end up paying less per month and having more space. This is in fact part of the reason people are willing to bid so much over asking. It's not because they're desperate, at least for my anecdotes, but because you can bid very aggressively and still pay substantially less than you would for an apartment. On top of all that, rental costs in most cities are plummeting. Despite the bizarre housing market right now, I wouldn't be surprised if on average most people were spending less on monthly payments.

helen___keller 5y ago
> Despite the bizarre housing market right now, I wouldn't be surprised if on average most people were spending less on monthly payments. To add a supporting anecdote from my recently finished adventure in house hunting, condos in desirable HCOL areas are also on fire but the demand actually dries up at a certain price point - around 1.3-1.4MM where I live. The most expensive downtown areas (where condos regularly go 2MM or higher) seem to have a massive glut of units and sometimes entire buildings on sale. Personally, I bought a 1MM condo that was originally priced at 1.2MM and had a price decrease. It's not particularly cheap by any means, but it's not significantly more than I would have been paying in 2019, I don't think. edit: A fun way to see this yourself is to use a search on redfin for "price reduced in 14 days" and see which neighborhoods / price points show up in your city. Where I live, it's the pricy condos. Single families still sell at almost any price point, and more affordable condos sell as well.
axaxs 5y ago
Small correction: Rental prices in a few, big cities are falling. On the whole, in most cities, rental prices are through the roof. Almost exactly 20% higher for a SFH rental YOY. I know because I checked what the house I moved out of was relisted for.

helen___keller 5y ago

> Despite the bizarre housing market right now, I wouldn't be surprised if on average most people were spending less on monthly payments. To add a supporting anecdote from my recently finished adventure in house hunting, condos in desirable HCOL areas are also on fire but the demand actually dries up at a certain price point - around 1.3-1.4MM where I live. The most expensive downtown areas (where condos regularly go 2MM or higher) seem to have a massive glut of units and sometimes entire buildings on sale. Personally, I bought a 1MM condo that was originally priced at 1.2MM and had a price decrease. It's not particularly cheap by any means, but it's not significantly more than I would have been paying in 2019, I don't think. edit: A fun way to see this yourself is to use a search on redfin for "price reduced in 14 days" and see which neighborhoods / price points show up in your city. Where I live, it's the pricy condos. Single families still sell at almost any price point, and more affordable condos sell as well.

axaxs 5y ago

Small correction: Rental prices in a few, big cities are falling. On the whole, in most cities, rental prices are through the roof. Almost exactly 20% higher for a SFH rental YOY. I know because I checked what the house I moved out of was relisted for.