Posted on 01/16/2024 6:40:18 AM PST by devane617
his was the average cost of an American home in the decade you were born From 1940 to 1980, see how the US housing market spiked
Sydney BorchersJanuary 16, 2024 4:00am EST The cost of American homes has skyrocketed over the years due to inflation, and you may be amazed at just how much the market has changed over the past 80 years.
See the major ups and downs of the market by looking at the average cost of homes going all the way back to 1940.
Prices have fluctuated over time and the historical Census and Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) have meticulously documented the ebb and flow of the housing market.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxbusiness.com ...
I remember reading a feature in Mad magazine that talked about $50,000 houses in the suburbs as a sign of wealth.
My dad went into his office at six thirty and left at two thirty so he could build our house in 1950. He built that nice 1650 SF ranch in a great suburb on a 1/3 acre lot. It sold two years ago for 300k. It is now listed for just its potential as a spot for a new house at 750k. He would flip.
1930’s $300.00
I think these prices are low, pretty sure my parents modest home purchased in the mid 1950's was closer to 20k which would translate after inflation to $225,000. A very small modest home now is $250k or so. So not much of a change in reality.
I was born in 1938, my Dad was earning 50 cents a day sunup til sundown, chopping crossties for a railroad. The depression didn’t end until WWII for those who are not old enough to remember it.
‘1930’s $300.00”
But, wonder how many folks would live in a 1930’s house? Or 40’s, 50’s even 60’s? Those houses were poorly built regarding insulation and many other factors that the value today would probably be closer in line with inflation from that time.
My father was making $1 a day as unskilled labor in the 1930's, picking rock out of fields in northern Wisconsin. The job included being fed at lunch.
The federal minimum was went into effect on Oct 24, 1938. I know farm workers were exempted. It was .25 dollars per hour.
Lots of 1930’s houses did not have electricity or indoor plumbing. They tended to be smaller as well.
I am old enough to remember when having a $50,000 home was considered rich.
I belive you are right. My parents built a 750 sq ft Cape Cod with a basement apartment in about 1946 for about $15,000. After they paid off the mortgage ten years later, the rental income paid for most of the housing expenses including property taxes, fuel oil, garbage, sewer, and water.
I sold the house in 2020 for $165,000.
I don’t know the square footage but my parents bought a three bedroom home in Tucson Arizona and the early fifties for 7,000
In 1965 they purchased another three bedroom home in New Mexico for 11,000.
Not in Texas. There was a statewide real estate bust in Texas in the late 1980s. If you had cash you could buy foreclosed houses or commercial properties very cheaply from any of the banks that were still in business. Most were new banks that purchased the assets of all of the existing banks and savings and loans that went under after their real estate loans defaulted.
could be apples and oranges? My folks home was in a populated suburb of The capital of NY, Albany. The had water, sewer, paved roads etc. In those days Albany and the entire Capital region were thriving areas, GE still employed tens of thousands in Schenectady, Albany had the capital government workforce, there were numerus top universities from RPI, Union, Albany Medical Center, Univ of Albany and a teaching college for Albany Med and Law., etc.
Good points, there are significant regional considerations when comparing generalized “market prices”.
Our house was typical of average modest home, 3 beds, 1 bath, ranch style, and in the 70’s went for $$35,000- less than a truck costs today.
We lived in an old old stagecoach rooming house that had no insulation in the walls- the wind would move the curtains or posters on the wall lol. We stayed plenty warm though with a huge whole home wood furnace system.
The original part of my old house was built in 1924 and after many additions and improvements starting in 1950 by my husband’s parents and then carried on by us for 44 years, we had it pretty much how we wanted it but they were still deficits that you couldn’t fix because of the structure.
In May of 22 it burned down and we had to build a new home. We built it according to ADA guidelines and we built it to be very energy efficient. Even with the air conditioner on this summer we never had an electric bill over 138 dollars and this winter which has been pretty cold and the heater has only come on around 10 times and stayed on 10 minutes and shut down.
I was very sad when our house burned down but after being in this house for 9 months I’m so glad it did.
1967 - my parents bought a new construction, three bedroom, three bath, two car garage, air conditioned, water front home with dock. Nice waterfront.
$22,000. St Petersburg-Tampa Bay Area.
Home is still there and largely unmodified.
Appraised currently at over two million. House and waterfront hasn’t changed much. Our money has. Dramatically.
exactly! no AC and they didn’t come with appliances!
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