Does anyone else *not* live in a 200K+ house?

[JenDaveBrendan]

I think the general answer is the quality of the school system. Most families that can afford to, buy based on that factor more than anything else. There are plenty of nice communities in my area where houses are less costly than the town we live in, but the schools aren't as good. So people with school-age children tend to gravitate here even though houses are more costly than a few miles down the road.

Exactly

 

[Simba's Mom]

Listening to NPR last night, they were talking about the future of the housing market, and stated that the "average" price of a "starter" home was 250-300K. I can see that along the coasts and near big cities, but what about the rest of us in fly over land? We live in a rural area of the upper Midwest, very little growth or industry, and houses run 50-150K, maybe. We have ours listed for sale right now for 129, and it will probably take a year to sell. The closest houses over 200K would probably be in Green Bay (largely owned by the Packers!). Anyone else live in a "poor" area and not ashamed to admit it? (Hey, there may be no jobs, but at least our houses are cheap!)
Terri

Yup, we probably live in one of the (if not THE) poorest areas of the country, and our real estate prices reflect it. We just sold our home where we raised our kids-4 BR, 3BA, pool, security, 3100 sq. ft. for $185,000. Then we bought this home, 3 BR, 2 BA, garage, 1850 sq ft. for $120,000. And we live in one of the more "expensive" parts of town because this is where the best schools are. Our realtor told us that we could get the same house in another part of town for less. My parents live in MA and they said that if they told anyone what we bought our new house for, people would think it must be a shack. That's the difference in housing prices.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

BTW, how in the heck does one afford a $500,000 property on anything less than $100K income a year?

We can't afford that on about $100,000 a year.... with all the other expenses, the rest of our money would be going to the mortgage. I can't see living like that.

 

[JenDaveBrendan]

My parents live in MA and they said that if they told anyone what we bought our new house for, people would think it must be a shack. That's the difference in housing prices.

So true.... you can't even buy a tiny condo for that around here.......

 

[dvcgirl]

Here in Orlando a tiny Condo now runs in the 150-170K range right on up to "luxury" condos in the 900,000 range. Very tough to find a house below 300K worth living in. When we moved here a short 18 months ago, there were houses in Hunters Creek that were pretty nice and in the mid 200s. Now they're in the 400s.

I do feel that it's all coming to a screeching halt though. Report after report coming out indicates a major housing slowdown. There was a story on cnn/money.com yesterday about real estate investors starting to bail and sell everything.

I keep reading that the housing sector flattening out *shouldn't* throw us into a recession, but I'm not buying that just yet. And you know how it is with a recession, they generally tell us that we were in a recession just as we're pulling out of one .

Even if we don't go into a nationwide recession, I think we'll see regional recessions in the same manner that we saw regional housing bubbles.

 

[Chicago526]

Here in Orlando a tiny Condo now runs in the 150-170K range right on up to "luxury" condos in the 900,000 range. Very tough to find a house below 300K worth living in. When we moved here a short 18 months ago, there were houses in Hunters Creek that were pretty nice and in the mid 200s. Now they're in the 400s.

I do feel that it's all coming to a screeching halt though. Report after report coming out indicates a major housing slowdown. There was a story on cnn/money.com yesterday about real estate investors starting to bail and sell everything.

I keep reading that the housing sector flattening out *shouldn't* throw us into a recession, but I'm not buying that just yet. And you know how it is with a recession, they generally tell us that we were in a recession just as we're pulling out of one .

Even if we don't go into a nationwide recession, I think we'll see regional recessions in the same manner that we saw regional housing bubbles.

My feelings exactly!