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In Warren and Tyagi’s new book, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke, they write that "The brunt of the price increases has fallen on families with children. Data from the Federal Reserve show that [after inflation] the median home value for the average childless individual increased by 23 percent between 1983 and 1998 … For married couples with children, however, housing prices shot up 79 percent—more than three times faster."

Someone help me out here. Xena's Guy and I bought a three-bedroom house last November. How does what we paid differ from that paid by a married couple with one or two kids who bought a similar house? Property value is property value, or am I missing something? (Leaving aside the assessment question, of course.)

"Property value is property value, or am I missing something? (Leaving aside the assessment question, of course.)"

In major cities like LA or New York, single family houses (primarily owned by families) have increased in value far more than small condominiums.Illegals will buy a house (pooling the savings of 2 or 3 families)and move them all in,thus driving up the price of rentals, thus driving up the price of property.

In Warren and Tyagi’s new book, The Two-Income Trap: Why Middle-Class Mothers and Fathers are Going Broke, they write that "The brunt of the price increases has fallen on families with children. Data from the Federal Reserve show that [after inflation] the median home value for the average childless individual increased by 23 percent between 1983 and 1998 … For married couples with children, however, housing prices shot up 79 percent—more than three times faster."

Someone help me out here. Xena's Guy and I bought a three-bedroom house last November. How does what we paid differ from that paid by a married couple with one or two kids who bought a similar house? Property value is property value, or am I missing something? (Leaving aside the assessment question, of course.)

I think the point is that a single person buying a house can be much more flexible, and thus not fall prey to predatory realtors. 1. He can take a smaller house (1-2 BR); and even more importantly, 2. He's indifferent to the quality of the school district where the house is.

Let me give you a local example, from where I live (Queens, NY). My wife and I could afford a house or co-op in a certain neighborhood 40 blocks east of where we live. A bunch of nice co-ops have sprouted up there of late, and more continue to sprout up along the same tract of oceanfront land. (The area is prime real estate, but had been in decline for 35 years, due to the city using it as a welfare dumping ground, and due to its concentration of violent, black racism). Housing pressures brought it back.) However, the area's public schools are comprised of 70% genocidally racist blacks, 20% vicious Hispanics, and 5% cowering Asians. (Heck, even the Catholic schools there have a lot of racist, minority kids.) To send our child to those schools would constitute child abuse, and could lead to his death. I know of 7-year-old Asian kids who have gotten their noses broken on a regular basis in those schools, by 7 and 8-year-old black kids.

White and Asian people from that area engage in all sorts of dishonesty, or just plain BEG school officials (I know one lady who says that what she did), in order to get their kids into the schools in the ditrict where we live. And I know Hispanics and blacks who will not send their kids to those schools, either.

And so, owners selling homes in the good school district can get whatever they want from families with school-aged children, who are the only people you see moving in there. (You see some pretty unprepossessing homes here selling for $500K+.) Meanwhile, singles who drive back and forth from work, and need never (or so they think) come into contact with the local school kids can buy those nice, relatively reasonable co-ops in the less desirable school district.