Home prices bubbling again?
Some faint concern is evidenced when prices raise 15% in a year… which we have seen in King County with November’s median price at $426,000. But our prices are not the most ‘un-affordable’ for residents earning a median income for the area.
San Francisco prices exorbitant
In San Francisco, only 14% of the homes are within reach of someone making the median income. Home prices there are so exorbitant, it hardly matters that San Franciscans are among the highest earners in the nation.
————–
Trulia’s ranking of for sale home prices, that are affordable for the middle class, ranks Seattle #23. By Trulia’s calculations, an affordable home in the Seattle-Bellevue-Everett metro would be $338,000 or less.
| Rank | U.S. Metro | % of homes for sale within reach of middle class, 2013 | Maximum affordable home price, rounded (Trulia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco, CA | 14% | $409000 |
| 2 | Orange County, CA | 23% | $373000 |
| 3 | Los Angeles, CA | 24% | $271000 |
| 4 | New York, NY-NJ | 25% | $274000 |
| 5 | San Diego, CA | 28% | $309000 |
| 6 | San Jose, CA | 31% | $462000 |
| 7 | Ventura County, CA | 32% | $366000 |
| 8 | Fairfield County, CT | 36% | $364000 |
| 9 | Honolulu, HI | 40% | $395000 |
| 10 | Boston, MA | 41% | $322000 |
| 11 | Oakland, CA | 42% | $361000 |
| 12 | Peabody, MA | 43% | $328000 |
| 13 | Riverside-San Bernardino, CA | 49% | $253000 |
| 14 | Austin, TX | 50% | $251000 |
| 15 | Middlesex County, MA | 51% | $396000 |
| 16 | Sacramento, CA | 51% | $284000 |
| 17 | Miami, FL | 51% | $196000 |
| 18 | Providence, RI-MA | 52% | $255000 |
| 19 | Fresno, CA | 52% | $211000 |
| 20 | Newark, NJ-PA | 52% | $294000 |
| 21 | Dallas, TX | 53% | $240000 |
| 22 | Long Island, NY | 54% | $382000 |
| 23 | Seattle, WA | 55% | $338000 |
| 24 | Denver, CO | 55% | $317000 |
| 25 | Houston, TX | 56% | $231000 |
———————–
*For Trulia’s analysis, a house was considered affordable if the total monthly payment (including insurance and property tax) did not exceed 31 percent of the median household income; in calculating the monthly payment, Trulia assumed that the buyer had a 20 percent down payment and a 30-year fixed mortgage at a 4.5 percent rate.
