Just heard on the news that the median home cost in San Francisco

[Oeditpus Rex]

is...




(Now, remember — this is the median cost.)




Ready?




$760,000.



Insane. Absolutely insane.

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Grew up nearby. I'm surprised it's that low!

You can get a 900 sp.ft home in my Los Angeles suburb for $680,000!!!!!!!!!!



P.S. I loooove your little thud smilie! That is hysterical!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

2. Yeah, I find it surprisingly low.

I think Morris County NJ has wrecked my concept of home prices. My mom bought a house for (1900sq ft) $200,000 ten years ago, with barely any upgrades she sold it for nearly $800,000. Our current home is quite a bit larger and she got it for $1,000,000 because the people were in a hurry to move out. She's putting an addition on it.

[SmileyBoy]

3. You can build a mansion from scratch in South Fargo for $250,000

Land included.

On the grounds of a golf course, no less.:)

[Capn Sunshine]

14. ah, yes, but the key:

South Fargo in winter



San Francisco in winter

[grace0418]

20. You don't have to shovel fog!

Well said!

[sir_captain]

4. bah

the average price here in manhattan is well over a million

$760,000 will get you a tiny 1BR apt with no windows

[Droopy]

5. Move to beautiful West Carrollton, Ohio

I bought a 700 square foot house for $69,900. Convenient to restaurants and shopping.

[SmileyBoy]

6. HOLY SHITE!!!

The house I grew up in in South Fargo in an old residential neighbourhood of Victorian-era homes was over 2,000 square feet, 3/2, a sweet rec room in the basement, A huge closed porch, fireplace, the works. And it cost my parents $54,000 in 1981.

Probably worth over $300,000 now. Still nothing compared to San Fran.

[LostinVA]

15. My sister's family lives in Lawton, OK

They both have great jobs. They have a 3,000 sft home, one acre of land, paid $159k for it... of course, Lawton is really conservative, as is most of OK. My house is less than one size of that, I have 1/3 of an acre (but it's nice and wooded), and paid not too much less....

[Richard Steele]

7. Yup. My sweetie's little sister moved out there last year...

...and has been sending us Real Estate ads as HUMOR.

MY fave: for only 2.1 Million, you could buy an 1800 foot house
which is IN TWO PIECES because the 1/3rd acre it was built on
is classified as an "ACTIVE LANDSLIDE"!

In SF, they call that a "real DIY opportunity"!

[petronius]

8. That surprises me - I was guessing higher

but I guess that what this is buying is mostly small condos, not houses (which is what I picture when I see the word 'home') of any sort, so it's way high for what you actually get.

Guess I can scratch SF off my house-hunting list... :)

[AtomicKitten]

9. and imagine what I pay to rent a house here in SF .... painful

[NMMNG]

10. Well get this

In 2000

Crownsville, MD
Population 1704
536 Houses
Median value of house for sale = $625,000

Imagine what the median value is now. :scared: (I couldn't find anything current)
http://www.city-data.com/housing/houses-Crownsville-Maryland.html

Needless to say, Crownsville is where the rich folk live. (one of the places, anyway)




Also in MD: Montgomery's Department of Park and Planning said that in the first half of 2005, the median price for a new detached house was $759,933
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/04/AR2006010401957.html



In my area the average townhouse sells for over $300K and even up to $700K. Condos are over $200K, with some of them getting close to $300K for "penthouse" models (e.g., the top floor). :scared:

[Ariana Celeste]

11. here's my county in 2000

crazy stuff, it is.

Hendricks County, Indiana:

County Population: 104,093
County Houses: 39,229
Land area: 408.4 sq. mi.
Water area: 0.5 sq. mi.


Industries providing employment: Educational,health and social services (17.7%), Manufacturing (15.0%), Retail trade (11.9%), Transportation and warehousing,and utilities (11.0%).

Type of workers:

Private wage or salary: 85%
Government: 11%
Self-employed, not incorporated: 4%
Unpaid family work: 0%


Races in Hendricks County:

White Non-Hispanic (96.0%)
Black (1.1%)
Hispanic (1.1%)
Two or more races (0.9%)
American Indian (0.6%)
Median age: 35.6 years
Males: 50.1%, Females: 49.9%
Average household size in Hendricks County: 2.71
Median household income: $55,208 (year 2000)
Median house value: $133,300 (year 2000)
Median montly rent in 2000: $644
Institutionalized population: 3,058
Median monthly costs for houses with a mortgage in Hendricks County in 2000: $1067

[In_The_Wind]

12. That settles it!

I won't buy a home in San Francisco.

[distantearlywarning]

13. In contrast, Pittsburgh,

which is a very fun, interesting city with a lot of cultural activities and a nice waterfront of its own:

Median home price ~ $120,000

I am a graduate student, with a grad student stipend, and the boy and I will be able to buy a 3-4 bedroom home in a nice neighborhood with public transportation next year.

All I have to say to San Francisco-ites is.... :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I guess you pay for being hip these days. (See also: today's thread regarding $319 jeans)

[grace0418]

18. It's waaaaaay more than paying for being hip.

San Francisco is an awesome city. But more importantly, Northern California is an AMAZING area in which to live. The variety of natural beauty within driving distance of San Francisco is incredible. The ocean, redwoods, mountains, wine country, the desert are just some of the places you can visit whenever you like. No airfare necessary. If you get tired of the year-round temperate weather, you can be in the heat or in the snow in a matter of hours.

People spend a lot of money taking expensive vacations to the areas San Franciscans enjoy year-round. Doesn't sound so dumb to me. Laugh all you want but I'd much rather live in a tiny place and have a better quality of life than in a 4 bedroom home somewhere like Chicago (where I live now). What's the point of having a yard I can only enjoy for a few months a year when it's not sub-zero or stifling hot and humid?

It's all relative and to each his/her own of course, but there must be a reason why San Francisco is a place people honeymoon and take dream vacations.

Although I do agree it's ridiculous to pay $319 for jeans.

[XemaSab]

22. Northern California IS beautiful

You should come visit sometime! :hi:

[grace0418]

23. I do quite often actually.

I've been to Northern California 6 times in the last 7 years (including Monterey, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Napa and Sonoma) and I LOVE it there so much. I feel like I'm home whenever I'm there. If I was single, I would be living there right now. I love my husband and everything, but some days he's literally the only thing keeping me in Chicago.

[laheina]

24. Thank you for appreciating Nor Cal

I don't think that I could ever live anywhere else.

I miss the culture, diversity, and political climate when I'm away too long. And outside the larger cities, it tends to be a lot less materialistic. The latter is definitely one thing that I could do without, but it is a trade-off that I can make.

cheers!

[grace0418]

27. I cannot tell you how much I envy you.

I feel like I'm in exile whenever I'm home and at home whenever I'm in Northern California.

Actually, one of the many reasons I loathe Bu$hCo is because I would be living in Nor Cal right now if they hadn't destroyed the economy. We had plans to move out there but they fell through and now my husband is too scared about money to take the risk.

[tigereye]

26. our dream vacation

was to SF last summer. It was amazing. So beautiful, so diverse, so interesting. We were in heaven and didn't want to come home.

[tigereye]

25. yes. Pittsburgh is a great place to buy a house

I paid much, much less than that for a nice house in a quiet area just outside Pittsburgh.

But SF, wow. There are few places as beautiful. I wish I were fabulously wealthy so I could live there. (or were willing to go for those bizarre interest only mortgages)


:hi: fellow Pittsburgher

[Susang]

16. Wow, that's as much as Winnetka, IL

Just north of Chicago, where all the rich folks live. ;-)

Median resident age: 39.8 years
Median household income: $167,458 (year 2000)
Median house value: $756,500 (year 2000)

http://www.city-data.com/city/Winnetka-Illinois.html

[Gormy Cuss]

17. Don't forget, "homes" include condos and TICs

There aren't many detached houses in SF that sell near the median price, and the ones that do are often very small or in less desirable areas like those with a panoramic view of highway 101. The median is driven by the condo and tenancy-in-common buildings (TICs are popular in small buildings with up to four units. They're similar to coops in terms of owners.)

on edit: when the median is calculated for a densely packed city like San Francisco or DC a disportinately high percent of homes are condos or townhouse type units. In sprawling cities these tend to form a small fraction of the 'homes.'

[DrGonzoLives]

19. No thanks

I'll stick to living in smaller cities and towns, even if they're "red."

[Taverner]

21. Awesome! Prices are FINALLY going down

I remember when it was $800 something

[Shine]

28. and Santa Cruz county ain't much cheaper....

if at all....
:eyes: