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I honestly don't understand. When I bought a home I was literally making the US median income and bought an average priced house. My rent at the time was about

I honestly don't understand. When I bought a home I was literally making the US median income and bought an average priced house. My rent at the time was about a thousand a month. I had normal student loans and regular bills too. It wasn't easy but it didn't feel like a miracle either. Not saying someone making minimum can do this by any means, but there's a huge demand for labor in decent paying areas right now. I genuinely feel like I'm missing a big piece of this puzzle.

bombcar 4y ago
People post what they feel like, not what they’ve actually tried. Even if you ignore first time homeowner benefits and such, the usual thing necessary is not living in the middle of California. Often if you actually dig into it you find abject refusals to consider locations outside of a particular one, or the famous “spend less on candles. no” type of thing. https://mobile.twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472 https://mobile.twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472
rtlfe 4y ago
> My rent at the time was about a thousand a month. Sounds like this was either a long time ago or in city/town where not many people want to live.
boplicity 4y ago
The cost of a house has spiked to over 7x median income in the US, in a very short time. That's put buying a house out of reach for many people. Hopefully the bubble will burst -- but who knows? It could drag on for a very long time. Historically, the cost of a house has hovered around 4.5 to 5.5x annual median income. It's currently at the highest level it's ever been, at least according to this graph: https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-price-median-annual-income-ratio/#:~:text=Historically%2C%20an%20average%20house%20in%20the%20U.S.%20cost,7%20times%20the%20U.S.%20median%20annual%20household%20income https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-price-median-annual-inco....
- gruez 4y ago
  What about factoring in interest rates? After all, people ultimately care about the monthly payments than about the sticker price.
  - nly 4y ago
    For those in the US who generally fix their mortgages for full-term (25-30 years), this will definitely be offering some relief. In places like the UK we have the same phenomenon but most people are on 2-5 year fixed rates.
- heavyset_go 4y ago
  > Hopefully the bubble will burst -- but who knows? It could drag on for a very long time. The median home price in Canada is $800k and rising, while in the US it is $400k and rising. Housing prices in the US could easily double.
  - ac29 4y ago
    > in the US it is $400k and rising Actually the latest quarter median prices fell in the US, which may continue as interest rates increase. Broadly speaking though, prices certainly are up over the last couple years. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
- jjav 4y ago
  House price to income ratio doesn't tell the whole story because that doesn't include cost of mortgage. A more informative value to compare would be monthly payment to income ratio. For example, when I bought my first home the price was around 4.5x my income. But the interest rate on that first mortgage was 8.25%
solenoidalslide 4y ago
What year did you graduate? It seems like most everyone who graduated in the past decade is screwed if they want to live near where the jobs are.

bombcar 4y ago

People post what they feel like, not what they’ve actually tried. Even if you ignore first time homeowner benefits and such, the usual thing necessary is not living in the middle of California. Often if you actually dig into it you find abject refusals to consider locations outside of a particular one, or the famous “spend less on candles. no” type of thing. https://mobile.twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472 https://mobile.twitter.com/dril/status/384408932061417472

rtlfe 4y ago

> My rent at the time was about a thousand a month. Sounds like this was either a long time ago or in city/town where not many people want to live.

boplicity 4y ago

The cost of a house has spiked to over 7x median income in the US, in a very short time. That's put buying a house out of reach for many people. Hopefully the bubble will burst -- but who knows? It could drag on for a very long time. Historically, the cost of a house has hovered around 4.5 to 5.5x annual median income. It's currently at the highest level it's ever been, at least according to this graph: https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-price-median-annual-income-ratio/#:~:text=Historically%2C%20an%20average%20house%20in%20the%20U.S.%20cost,7%20times%20the%20U.S.%20median%20annual%20household%20income https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-price-median-annual-inco....

gruez 4y ago
What about factoring in interest rates? After all, people ultimately care about the monthly payments than about the sticker price.
- nly 4y ago
  For those in the US who generally fix their mortgages for full-term (25-30 years), this will definitely be offering some relief. In places like the UK we have the same phenomenon but most people are on 2-5 year fixed rates.
heavyset_go 4y ago
> Hopefully the bubble will burst -- but who knows? It could drag on for a very long time. The median home price in Canada is $800k and rising, while in the US it is $400k and rising. Housing prices in the US could easily double.
- ac29 4y ago
  > in the US it is $400k and rising Actually the latest quarter median prices fell in the US, which may continue as interest rates increase. Broadly speaking though, prices certainly are up over the last couple years. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MSPUS
jjav 4y ago
House price to income ratio doesn't tell the whole story because that doesn't include cost of mortgage. A more informative value to compare would be monthly payment to income ratio. For example, when I bought my first home the price was around 4.5x my income. But the interest rate on that first mortgage was 8.25%

solenoidalslide 4y ago

What year did you graduate? It seems like most everyone who graduated in the past decade is screwed if they want to live near where the jobs are.