My god, $980,000 average house price?!
Maybe I’m wrong here but given that price in California, I start to wonder how much of a house you’re getting for that price?
Besides that, the state of California (and local municipalities - after all, it is the Bay Area!) is prboably darn near raking you over the coals in terms of taxes.
Most 2 BD apts of 900 sq ft are going for about 2200/mo
$900-thousand is the new normal for homes in California, in nice areas. Meaning, good places for raising kids without crime, gangs and trailer-trash neighbors. There's a lot of remodeling going on by folks who can't afford to switch houses with the corresponding huge hike in taxes. If you bought long ago, you hold onto your home and do big remodeling projects to keep your property taxes low. As long as you don't completely tear it down, you won't get reassessed as a new home. So, old homes may be worth $900K but people can't afford the taxes on another home if they had bought at existing previously at $40K, hence remodel. This further drives up the cost of homes on the market due to reduced quantities for sale.