Posted on 01/03/2016 9:18:45 AM PST by Pelham
Xochitl Collazo won't be spending 2016 in Orange County, her home of three decades.
Instead, the longtime Santa Ana resident plans to move in with a friend in central Arizona, driven away by unaffordable rents and high health insurance premiums.
"It just doesn't make sense for me to be struggling like that anymore," said Collazo, 36, who could barely afford her $1,000-a-month rent from what she earned managing a Mission Viejo doctor's office. "What am I supposed to do? Have no savings? Have nothing? It literally makes no sense."
If forecasters are right, there's little relief in sight for Orange County residents who, like Collazo, struggle to find affordable housing.
Rents, home prices and home sales all are projected to rise even more in 2016, albeit perhaps at a slower pace than in 2015...
Lawrence Yun, chief economist of the National Association of Realtors, said that because Orange County is such a sought-after market, housing here "will always be expensive."
And if you think buying or renting a home is hard, try finding affordable office, industrial or retail space. Commercial real estate prices, like their residential counterpart, also are projected to continue 2015's upswing in rent and sales prices as vacancies continue to drop, analysts say...
Chapman University economic forecasters predict that the median price will rise another 2.5 percent in 2016, while Cal State Fullerton projects an increase in the 4 percent to 6 percent range this year.
That could put Orange County's year-end median price for an existing single-family home in the $729,000 to $754,000 range.
Most economists cite continued job growth as the source of rising sales and prices.
Another factor: The inventory of homes for sale - already running below normal levels - ended 2015 at a 21/2-year low.
(Excerpt) Read more at ocregister.com ...
Tht was my thought too. It’s so expensive that only the poor can afford to live there (tapayer subsidized housing).
AND, once she gets to Central Arizona, she will vote for the same idiots who drove up the prices in OC by excessive regulation and taxation.
And then complain that Arizona is getting too expensive to live in.
Just like the idiots in Bisbee do.
I don’t think excessive regulation and taxation drove up prices in OC. It’s simply supply and demand.
Same as NYC; people who contribute nothing demand “affordability”. These prices drive out taxpayers and employers, leaving fiscal “black holes”.
“I don’t think excessive regulation and taxation drove up prices in OC. It’s simply supply and demand.”
True enough. If we could rid ourselves of several million illegals OC would be more appealing for Americans to move to. There are large sections of north OC now that are anything but desirable for Americans.
one would thing with the internet economy booming, more things delivered, there would be more and more space available all the time. Too many people?
So it’s so crowded and expensive nobody goes there anymore? Good thing the federal government has an unlimited supply of money it can print to keep these people in their lifestyle.
People are willing to put up with higher taxes, bad traffic, liberal (i.e. stupid) laws, lawlessness, and lots of other crap in order to live here.
Thus 10% of the votes in the House and 10% of the electoral college will forever be in the hands of liberal democrats.
The only hope for the rest of you is a massive earthquake that displaces enough Californians to significantly decrease our political power over the rest of the states.
And hopefully we wont all move to your state or you will suffer the same fate as Colorado.
There are a lot of companies in my industry in Orange County, CA. I’d likely do well there. However, from what I can see, while compensation is considerably higher the cost of living is even higher still, so it doesn’t make economic sense. You’d be scrimping to an extent to live there on 100K a year. Forget buying a house, you’d be renting and not a really nice rental at that. It’s a very pretty place, at least within view of the Pacific it is. A lot of people want to live there, there are jobs to be had. But the expense is bizarre.
The threat of “affordable housing” being plopped into their area is another huge disincentive to buying a home. I bought in an area that already had it, mainly occupied by aging whites; they have since been replaced by Hispanics, but the “American quarter” of my town is still nice.
Odd. That sounds like a pretty average rent.
I live in a country club neighborhood. Across one of the main streets that borders our neighborhood are condos and apartments. It used to be a nice middle income area........then they all turned section 8. Now it is dark as far as the eye can see. Our saving grace is they mostly stay away from our neighborhood.
I’m sorry to hear that; you can watch the value drop on your property. In my area, when that happens people tend to stop investing anything in their homes (since they don’t think they’ll recoup the costs).
That sounds like my in-laws’ place in Anaheim. A long time ago it was mostly white, then mixed, now predominantly Hispanic.
Her $1000 a month rent is probably for sharing part of a house or half of a 2-BR apartment.
That won't last.
I would sell and flee while I still could.
who_would...... I’m with you. Job moved me to Colorado 44 years ago from Washington DC area. The state was almost 100% conservative. It’s gone downhill where the lefties are the power moguls now. Grrr!
Well, they have the children we won’t produce; rather than deal with ghost towns, our government has just trafficked a new clientele here for government services (especially public education).
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