Check out this comment from Bynxers. I snagged it off the message board on Rona’s great post the other day on how housing has gotten even less affordable here in the Boston area, despite the downturn.
For the good of the message board; I may as well note that as a non-native Bostonian/ Eastern Mass Resident- it must be a cultural and regional difference that I am just not picking up or too stubborn to embrace…
I am the lone member of my group of friends from high school that does NOT own a home. Granted, many of them stayed in our idyllic exurb of Central-Southeastern Pennsylvania with the friendly Amish immediately to our west and Philadelphia 45 minutes to an hour east. While others, including college friends did- in fact take jobs in the South or Midwest and got impressive newer homes as a result.
Homeownership was not seen as the competitive sport or dog-eat-dog arena it is here, as I was raised. There are no “starter condos” or end point “goal homes”. Most people buy their first home and STAY in it forever, making it a lifelong commitment- only broken unless they relocate. My parent bought their first home in the late 70’s and have never moved. My best friend bought his first home 8 years ago as a single guy, it now houses his lovely family.
The starter-homes that people buy here for $300K are the types of houses people rented while they saved for their first house or rented and shared with friends before they got married, etc. Why? Mainly because of the state of disrepair or the 70’s fixtures and decor…. here they fetch a fortune.
Furthermore, single family homes for rent in these parts are as rare as a four leaf clover and never seem to be below $2000 a month unless its an absolute hole….
OK, I didn’t grow up in Central Pennsylvania, but I have a college buddy who moved there to teach at a local university.
He managed to buy a spacious ranch for his wife and daughter in a bucolic though not remote rural area near Harrisburg and still have enough money left over each month to live reasonably.
Of course, it’s not that Central Pennsylvania is some oasis of affordability – it just has a normal real estate market. And we definitely don’t.