HOW EXPENSIVE IS HOUSING WHERE YOU LIVE? (Piggybacking on RC's POPULATION topic)

[The Burgomaster]

Massachusetts has a reputation for being an expensive place to live. People are always complaining about the costs of buying homes or renting apartments.

About 20 years ago, my wife moved into an apartment complex in Malden, Massachusetts. When we moved in, I think the rent was about $1,300 - $1,350/month. They increased the rent every year (plus charged us an extra $50/month when we bought 2 small dogs). About 3 years after we moved in, the rent was about to be raised to over $2,000/month (so, about a 50% increase over the course of 3 years). They basically told us there was a waiting list of people trying to get in and if we didn't like it we could move out. So, we bought a house in Wilmington, MA.

We sold that original house more than 13 years ago and moved to our current house in Billerica.

According to zillow.com, the median home value in Billerica is $434,800. The median price of homes currently listed is $469,000 and the median of homes that sold is $396,900.

Billerica is a nice, quiet town with excellent access to 4 highways that can get you anywhere. But other than that, there is nothing special about it. There isn't much to see or do here. It's a typical LEAVE IT TO BEAVER type community.

I feel like housing is pretty expensive in Massachusetts (at least in the north eastern part of the state). A good chunk of my take-home pay goes to the mortgage and quarterly real estate taxes. Unless I pay this house off early, I'll be paying my mortgage until January 2035 and I'll be almost 71 years old.

How do you feel about housing costs in your area? Are they reasonable or are they choking you?

 

[Alex]

Where we are in Scotland, if you want a house you'd be looking at somewhere over £100,000. We are considered a cheap place to buy. When I was a kid though a house was a few hundred pounds.

[The Burgomaster]

Where we are in Scotland, if you want a house you'd be looking at somewhere over £100,000. We are considered a cheap place to buy. When I was a kid though a house was a few hundred pounds.

My father bought our first house in 1966 for $15,500 and sold it around 1972 for $22,000 or $23,000, I think. In the late 1970s the people who bought it from my dad sold it for $100,000. It's still there and my guess is it could sell for around $350,000 now.

[ER]

In my city housing values are attractive, averaging about 280K for a home in a decent suburb, plenty of houses in the city and south of the city can be gotten at bargain rates, which is what my husband does, buys once-lovely 19th century ruins in depressed neighborhoods and turns them into places you can walk into without feeling like you need a tetanus booster, usually selling to young/gay couples who are trying to gentrify former high-crime zones, but where we live houses are beyond insane, just under a million is the average price. If my grandfather had not been kind enough to leave this house to me we wouldn't be able to afford to live where we do and it's a challenge. All in all though it's not a bad housing market in Ohio.

[Pacman000]

Where we are in Scotland, if you want a house you'd be looking at somewhere over £100,000. We are considered a cheap place to buy. When I was a kid though a house was a few hundred pounds.

My father bought our first house in 1966 for $15,500 and sold it around 1972 for $22,000 or $23,000, I think. In the late 1970s the people who bought it from my dad sold it for $100,000. It's still there and my guess is it could sell for around $350,000 now.

15,500 USD from 1966 is a bit over $120,000 today; the housing market's shot way past normal inflation. :(

[indianasmith]

I have never bought a house; the place we live now belongs to my mother-in-law and was paid off in the 1990's.  The house and the 20 acres it sits on are appraised around $150,000, I think.  The place does need a lot of work.

My mom's apartment in Greenville costs her around $800 a month, I think.

[sprite75]

Where I'm located in Iowa the median rental is about $620.  The median home value is about $145,000 and median listing price about $180,000.  When my mom sold my maternal grandma's house in late 2003 she and her siblings got about $70,000 for the house.  If they were selling it today they'd probably start in the $140,000 to $150,000 range. 

 

[dean]

I'm in one of the most expensive places on the planet to buy property. Average house prices here are $1million.

Not going to be able to buy anything (within an hours drive of my work) for a long time at this rate!

[Leah]

Housing prices in New Orleans shot up in the last few years, firstly due to filming, and now due to Air BnB. My parents told me that when I get more experience in house remodeling/renovating that they'll buy me a house to fix up so that I can flip it. I think that idea isn't going to happen.

[The Burgomaster]

The house and the 20 acres it sits on are appraised around $150,000, I think.  The place does need a lot of work.

20 acres is amazing. You couldn't touch 20 acres around here unless you were fairly wealthy. I have one of the largest lots in my neighborhood and it's 0.5 acres. The standard residential lot size is 0.25.

[Trevor]

I rent so I'm not sure: I pay almost ZAR4000 per month rent (about $300).

[RCMerchant]

Tiana bought the house for $40,000, with the fixed mortgage at $423 a month. As far as renting- I've been looking for a place. If your on SS1 and movie into low income housing, about  $420 a month (!).

[lester1/2jr]

Suburban Boston, fairly close to the city prices are rather steep.  downtown it's bizarro world though

https://echelonseaport.com/

^ this is a new billion dollar building complex going up in bostons new fake neighborhood The Seaport.

700g's for a studio apt

[316zombie]

wichita varies a huge amount for rentals or buying, depending on your area. and alot depends on how close you need to be to transit. my house could easily rent for 900 a month, double my mortgage,because we're a block&1/2 from a busline. a house similar to mine 3 blocks north would rent for 500 tops. kansans DON'T like to  walk. i get funny looks because i DO walk most places, lol!

[RCMerchant]

Prices around hear are so low because there is NOTHING here. No jobs. Nothing. That's why it's so small. There ain't nothing here.
BUT! It kinda evens out because the few jobs around here don't pay s**t. Factory or farm. You will never get rich. But you can survive.
Most folks are poor around here. But I lived here most of my life. It's my hometown.