Posted on 05/30/2017 10:04:24 AM PDT by Thalean
In 1973 the median household income was $9,265...
Consider that the median sales price of a new home in January, 1973, was only $29,900—3.2 times the median household income. In other words, if the median family saved up every penny earned, and put it towards a new home, it would take just over three years to buy a brand new house.
This held relatively steady for the next decade. In 1985, new home prices crept up a little, to 3.7 times the median household income.
It was during the 1990s and 2000s that home prices began to skyrocket towards where they are today.
In January 2017 the median sales price for a new home was $317,400, which is 5.6 times the median household income of $56,516.
All told, houses are 73% more expensive today, in real terms, than they were in 1973...
The US Census started tracking the median lot size (in square feet) for new home construction in 1976. During that year, the average lot was 10,125 square feet. In 2015, it’s only 8,600—the smallest on record.
So not only are houses getting more expensive, but we’re getting less land as well.
In the interest of fairness, I’ll also point out that the median new home is larger, in terms of square footage, than older homes as well—so it’s not a total loss.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationaleconomicseditorial.com ...
You sound like a typical realtor. Every one I ever met lied as a matter of routine. They’re in the same class as used car con-men from my perspective.
Just think if Hillary were elected she would have come out with a program cash for crappy old homes
Btw, you know town homes are nothing but apartments with fancy names. One mans floor is another mans ceiling. I call them civilian barracks. I’d live in a motor home before I have went into one of those motels with attractive facades.
The house I lived in the longest (we moved a lot when I was younger) was built in 1967, and it had central air and heat. Heat was natural gas.
It was two stories, and 1,900 square feet, on a quarter acre (maybe a third of an acre), and it only needed painting about every ten years.
I've been in modern houses that have worse hot and cold spots in them than our old house did, and they have much higher tech equipment and thermostats, and better insulation. Our old house did just fine as it was.
I currently live in a house built in 1969, and it's on a half-acre. It was originally a swamp cooler, converted to refrigerated air somewhere in the last 10 years. The master bedroom is converted from the original garage, and the air/heat isn't as efficient on that end of the house, but it's fine for what it is.
Again, I've been in brand new houses that are drafty, have poor heating/cooling, and cost a ton to heat/cool, because they're so poorly build, even with modern materials.
Nope - I’m a finance executive for a mid-cap publicly traded company that happens to own a half dozen rental properties plus will be completing a new build home in 2 weeks with a builder just outside of Charlotte. I dislike realtors in general and I think the 5-6% commission is insane.
“It was during the 1990s and 2000s = women’s “lib” feminism and two income house holds.”
In California in the mid 1970s, two incomes (or more) began to be allowed for mortgages.
This began a big rise in the price of houses and over time ended up making them very difficult for single income families to afford. Immigrant families (illegal as well as legal) were more comfortable with several generations living in one house and would pool multiple incomes to buy houses.
Today in overcrowded, used-to-be America SoCal, old homes can go easily go for $440 a square foot. Prices would be far more reasonable and neighborhoods less crowded if the million or so illegals in SoCal were sent home. I won’t bet on that ever happening.
Now, a CONDO is nothing but an apartment with a fancy name - you can buy one of those around here for $60-$75k.
I see, you have rental properties...lol.. No conflicts there...
The house was paid off in 1998 and he retired in 2002. He got around $400K for that house and he thought he hit the lottery - bought a retirement home down South for cash and a pickup truck too. Today, that same house would probably go for around $700K.
The owners of run down houses want top dollar for them when they want to move. Never understood that.
Here are a couple of the rental townhomes I own/manage. Apartments are nothing like these.
Again, what you are thinking of are condos (example here), not townhomes.
In Canada housing prices in major cities have increased 200% to 600% in the last 10 to 12 years.
From 1940’s to 2004 carpenters who built the houses could buy a average middle class home for one years wages. Today 5 to 6 years wages to buy same home in most cities.
The EPA, with its unreasonable rules accounts for fully a fourth of the price increases.
And parts of the building code..... Afci breakers.... Etc
“3.7 times the median household income”
3.7? Dang! We need a much bigger house!
>> These reports can be deceiving <<
Definitely. And in addition to the excellent points you make, we need to be aware that the deciding factor for most home purchasers will not be the “list” price of the property, but rather it will be the monthly payment in relation to the buyer’s monthly income.
Moreover, the monthly payments are heavily weighted by current interest rates. So any tracking of home price trends needs to be adjusted by the trend and level of interest rates over the same period.
You can still get a house in much of flyover country for a lot less than 200K.
>> what really gets me is the closeness of the new houses <<
Sure. Who wants a big lawn to mow?
They’re also bigger, better insulated, better appliances, much more electrical in the wall. And the fact is people just aren’t into yards anymore, which is how you get a bigger house on a smaller lot.
That’s practically how it is. The ‘lawn’ is the size of their living room, and the back yard is the patio...................
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