When I was a kid, we moved to Sacramento in 1974 and bought a home for $29K. 6117 Jeanine Drive. Had an 18 foot deep back yard and faced I-80. We sold it in 1974 for $32K. In 1979, it sold for $95K. Today, I just checked, it has an assessed value of $237k.
Real estate has been a solid long term investment over the years, generally keeping ahead of inflation.
FWIW, $29,000 in 1974 is worth about $130,000 today based on inflation, although I am cynical enough to believe that all inflation calculators use the government’s “official” numbers and therefore under report actual inflation over that time. I’ll bet that $29,000 converts between $180,000 to $200,000 in actual experienced inflation, not the governments fudged numbers. But that is a whole different discussion.
Also, FWIW, Zillow shows that home on Jeanine worth $192,000.
An interesting exercise is to plug that address into Zillow.com and look at the history of sales.
Then look at an Orange County, CA example of my old homestead, where my family lived for 49 years. Bought in 1952 for $12K. Sold in 2000 for $185K. Look at the 10 year history. High value $559K, last sold for $355K. We're talking 3bdr, lb, 1100 sq ft.
This whole neighborhood became a Sec. 8 barrio. Believe me, none of those buyers were paying Schwarzennegar 9% state income tax.
yitbos