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Is housing really that expensive? When you price out a loan on a starter house it really ain't that bad. I'm a recent first time homebuyer and I don't understan

Is housing really that expensive? When you price out a loan on a starter house it really ain't that bad. I'm a recent first time homebuyer and I don't understand why people think they aren't affordable. There were plenty of cheaper homes that I looked at and even with rates at their highest would be cheaper than my rent. Do people expect a palace? Are there more unmarried people today who can't afford it alone?

bnjms 9mo ago
How much cost do you consider a first time home as costing?
- deleted 9mo ago
  [deleted]
neogodless 9mo ago
Based on your lower comment, Rhode Island. Median family income $87k Cost-of-living ~$36k excluding housing With your example of a $350K home, someone making the median (presumably not 20-30 year olds but more like 40-45 year olds...) they could save up the $70k down payment in under 2 years. P & I payment of ~$2k / month. Maybe $1k more for escrow of taxes and insurance. So $72k total cost of living on $87k, assuming you've made it to median income. Of course, if you're making less than $72k, buying a $350k house would simply be... untenable. Also, based on rough guideline of "30% of income on housing", you'd definitely want to keep your mortgage under $2200 / month. Census link indicates median home values are closer to $404K though, too. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/RI/LFE046224 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/RI/LFE046224 https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ri https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ri
- nickjj 9mo ago
  > Cost-of-living ~$36k excluding housing When you say housing, are you excluding utilities or just not direct rent / mortgage / property taxes? Either way, that's a good example of how different things are without kids and maybe why folks are choosing not to have them. As someone without kids who lives in NY (not NYC), I couldn't even imagine spending 36k / year (minus rent). Even if I took a 3 week international vacation every quarter I wouldn't come close to that amount after factoring in my normal costs.
  - neogodless 9mo ago
    From the link I posted, a "family of 4" in R.I. has a cost-of-living of $3090 / month (without rent.) It then line items "rent & utilities" as $2644 / month.
acheron 9mo ago
In general the “housing is too expensive” people mean “I looked at every available house in both San Francisco and New York City, and didn’t find anything cheap!”
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 9mo ago
  That's what it feels like to me. Hey I checked all the houses in a jet set fart sniffing town and there's nothing!
  - postflopclarity 9mo ago
    the cities mentioned account for nearly 10% of US GDP by themselves. That's not exactly what I would describe as a "jet set fart sniffing town." maybe you misread and thought the OP said Jackson or Sun Valley or something?
- postflopclarity 9mo ago
  such annoying pedantry to point out that "akshually houses are cheap in southern missouri" I mean, sure. but then there are 0 jobs and 0 community. the housing shortage is a shortage of housing in the same places that there is industry and opportunity. the fact that there are ample plots of land upon which one could theoretically erect a tent is irrelevant
  - 2OEH8eoCRo0 9mo ago
    I'm an hour from the gentrified black hole of Boston.
- supertrope 9mo ago
  When picking a city, pick two: -Good job market -Not high cost of living -Good quality of life (commute, amenities, etc.) Many industries are concentrated in high cost of living cities or very high cost of living cities. Not everyone is a nurse who can work anywhere. Big cities generally have bigger salaries.
scottious 9mo ago
Housing for the boomers used to cost 3x the median salary. Now it's more like 6x the median salary. These are nationwide numbers. Wage growth isn't keeping up to pace with housing prices Sure people can just move to a remote dying town and get a house for super cheap, but turns out people want to live within a reasonable distance to jobs.

bnjms 9mo ago

How much cost do you consider a first time home as costing?

deleted 9mo ago
[deleted]

neogodless 9mo ago

Based on your lower comment, Rhode Island. Median family income $87k Cost-of-living ~$36k excluding housing With your example of a $350K home, someone making the median (presumably not 20-30 year olds but more like 40-45 year olds...) they could save up the $70k down payment in under 2 years. P & I payment of ~$2k / month. Maybe $1k more for escrow of taxes and insurance. So $72k total cost of living on $87k, assuming you've made it to median income. Of course, if you're making less than $72k, buying a $350k house would simply be... untenable. Also, based on rough guideline of "30% of income on housing", you'd definitely want to keep your mortgage under $2200 / month. Census link indicates median home values are closer to $404K though, too. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/RI/LFE046224 https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/RI/LFE046224 https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ri https://livingcost.org/cost/united-states/ri

nickjj 9mo ago
> Cost-of-living ~$36k excluding housing When you say housing, are you excluding utilities or just not direct rent / mortgage / property taxes? Either way, that's a good example of how different things are without kids and maybe why folks are choosing not to have them. As someone without kids who lives in NY (not NYC), I couldn't even imagine spending 36k / year (minus rent). Even if I took a 3 week international vacation every quarter I wouldn't come close to that amount after factoring in my normal costs.
- neogodless 9mo ago
  From the link I posted, a "family of 4" in R.I. has a cost-of-living of $3090 / month (without rent.) It then line items "rent & utilities" as $2644 / month.

acheron 9mo ago

In general the “housing is too expensive” people mean “I looked at every available house in both San Francisco and New York City, and didn’t find anything cheap!”

2OEH8eoCRo0 9mo ago
That's what it feels like to me. Hey I checked all the houses in a jet set fart sniffing town and there's nothing!
- postflopclarity 9mo ago
  the cities mentioned account for nearly 10% of US GDP by themselves. That's not exactly what I would describe as a "jet set fart sniffing town." maybe you misread and thought the OP said Jackson or Sun Valley or something?
postflopclarity 9mo ago
such annoying pedantry to point out that "akshually houses are cheap in southern missouri" I mean, sure. but then there are 0 jobs and 0 community. the housing shortage is a shortage of housing in the same places that there is industry and opportunity. the fact that there are ample plots of land upon which one could theoretically erect a tent is irrelevant
- 2OEH8eoCRo0 9mo ago
  I'm an hour from the gentrified black hole of Boston.
supertrope 9mo ago
When picking a city, pick two: -Good job market -Not high cost of living -Good quality of life (commute, amenities, etc.) Many industries are concentrated in high cost of living cities or very high cost of living cities. Not everyone is a nurse who can work anywhere. Big cities generally have bigger salaries.

scottious 9mo ago

Housing for the boomers used to cost 3x the median salary. Now it's more like 6x the median salary. These are nationwide numbers. Wage growth isn't keeping up to pace with housing prices Sure people can just move to a remote dying town and get a house for super cheap, but turns out people want to live within a reasonable distance to jobs.