Posted on 04/27/2025 8:51:04 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
I've often written about how real estate prices have affected members of my own family. Of our four kids, two live in Colorado and can only afford to live in a nice, peaceful town well outside the troubled Denver area because they combine not two but three incomes. Our other two live in deep-red Iowa, in the same small town, where they are easily able to afford nice homes.
They have a lot of company. Realtor.com has just released its latest Affordability and Homebuilding report cards, and I should note that, while Colorado comes in at #27 with a grade of C in the report, Iowa is in third place for affordability with an A-. Colorado has a median listing price of $599,104 and a median household income of $90,555; Iowa has a median listing price of $294,600 and a median household income of $73,122.
A look at all the rankings is revealing. The three states with A ratings are red states: South Carolina, Iowa, and Texas. The next five in the ranking are Indiana, North Carolina, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Arkansas.
Seven states come in with an F listing: Oregon, Connecticut, California, Hawaii, New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. Notice anything those states have in common?
Now, while Hawaii is a deep-blue state, one can see how it would be an expensive place to live regardless; it's an island into which everything has to be shipped, making everything more expensive. We have something of the same problem here in Alaska, which comes in at #43 with a C-. Stuff does cost more in the Great Land.
But the only reason the other states have? Overbearing liberal state governments.
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Here's how the people of Realtor.com - headquartered in Texas - figure the scores:
It has become harder and harder to become a homeowner, with high prices and mortgage rates remaining the unfortunate reality, and increasing the supply of homes is the clear solution. States have a clear mandate to address housing affordability, so we are assigning grades based on how they are doing now and how well they are addressing the future by building affordable homes. Our score is a weighted average of percentile ranks across two affordability metrics and two new construction metrics:
- REALTORS® Affordability Score: 25%
- Median earner’s share of income spent on median-priced listing (ranked low to high): 25%
- Permit-to-population ratio: 40%
- New-construction premium (ranked low to high): 10%
Supply and demand, as always, apply. Many of our (Democrat-controlled) urban areas and even states have onerous building codes and zoning systems. In some places the permitting process for even starting a new build is shocking; a few years back, I was working in Silicon Valley, and an engineer at the client company was describing me how it could take three to five years even to get clearance to break ground where he lived, in San Jose.
Apparently, knowing the way to San Jose isn't enough. You have to know the way through a labyrinth of permits and reports.
Needless to say, all this has a bad effect on housing prices; restrict supply, prices go up. This is Economics 101. The lesson is clear: If it's home ownership you crave, you'll get a lot more bang for your real-estate buck in a red state.
Montana — where I live — is #44 on the list.
Homes are expensive her in SW Montana, property taxes are from 1/3 to 1/2 of 1% assessed value (county).
“I live in an HOA. It’s pretty cheap at 135 a month but they are not horrible Karen’s thankfully.”
We have a HOA for our rural 55 lot subdivision...after paying $1,800 per year for seven years it is now back to $600.00 per year.
The increase was to accumulate funds for paving 3.2 miles of roads, the paving will be completed in a few months...the $600.00 pays for road repairs and snow removal.
This is our 34th year of paying these HOA dues.
Towns that are economically depressed lead to lower real estate values. I think you may be onto something.
Areas with higher paying jobs or recreation opportunities lead to higher real estate prices.
The least expensive housing prices in the USA on average are in West Virginia. That is because there are very few good paying jobs there. Silicon Valley in California is the opposite. Lots of high paying jobs, many six figure earners looking for a place to live.
There is the town of Berlin in northern NH where the two paper mills shut down. A few years after the mills shut down you could buy a house there for under $50K. Eventually they built a federal and state prison there. The one paper mill became a wood fired power plant. They turned a state park into a mecca for off road ATVs. Now, the town has recovered some.
Yet, it remains one of the least expensive real estate places in the state.
Location, location, location are the three most important factors in real estate. New Castle, NH is the most expensive town in the state of NH. That is because of its location where the river dividing NH/ME meets the Atlantic Ocean. Waterfront property is always in demand. They ain’t making any more of it.
Just like if Berlin, NH had a big ski mountain like Bretton Woods, Loon or Waterville Valley just to its south the Massholes would buy up every bit of real estate in town.
If it had a big lake it would be the same story. Yet it doesn’t. It is a crappy old mill town.
Years ago, my sister & her husband moved from Nebraska to Maryland. My BIL worked for the military and one of their friend’s husband got transferred to Nebraska. She was beside herself with the move until they saw they could afford a McMansion, not have an hour commute to/from DC etc.
That’s not bad at all. Ours go to two golf course which is a money pit. We have three pools with recreation buildings. We have 2800 single family homes.
Phew! My HOA is $150/year!
It’s just to maintain the common areas, entrances and the lake. It’s an equestrian / farming community w/6-10 acre lots)
Wow! Those are nice lots. Ours are quarter acre. lol.
Nice, but a lot of work! The older I get, the better 1/4 acre sounds 😂
‘We have 2800 single family homes.”
Sounds nice for your locale, we have deer, elk, occasionally a moose or two, bear (haven’t seen one yet this year but they are waking up now...) and lots of bald and golden eagles.
We have two golf courses within three miles and are four miles from Main Street...not too many pools but lot’s of hot tubs!
Happy spring, FRiend!
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