King County: Median income half what's needed for median home

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Ouch
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

King County workers earning the median household income of $65,000 who hope to buy a home close to their jobs will find very few choices, according to an analysis by the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors.

The county is becoming an “hourglass” community where the only people who can afford housing will be the very wealthy and those who qualify for one of the small number of subsidized housing units, the association said in a news release about the analysis.

Using conventional affordability calculators, a household earning the current median income of $65,000 could afford a home priced up to $256,000, the association said.

The median asking price for single-family homes on the market in King County is $529,950, the association said.

http://www.djc.com/news/re/11185678.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. And this is King County overall. In Seattle and Redmond, prices are higher.

MUCH higher. A 780 sq. foot, one-bedroom condo around the corner from me, in a 1970s apartment building recently condo-ized, starts at $249,000. That is about $319.25 per square foot, not including taxes.

It is obscene.

[pscot]

2. I know a young couple

who recently found a three bedroom home for $130,000. Of course it's in a suburb of Indianapolis, which could make for a rather strenuous commute. But then they say the Wabash valley is lovely in the spring.

[maxsolomon]

3. "Valley" is a stretch - indianapolis is flat as a pancake

and the Wabash flows down the west side of indiana. indianapolis is on the white river

[SeattleGirl]

4. Housing prices around here are outrageous.

:grr:

[jrandom421]

5. Nowhere near as outrageous as Jackson Co, Oregon

Median house price: $367,525
Median household income: $32,988.80