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

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Oeditpus Rex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 12:46 AM
Original message
Just heard on the news that the median home cost in San Francisco
is...




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




Ready?




$760,000.



Insane. Absolutely insane.
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Kerrytravelers Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 12:49 AM
Response to Original message
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!
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HarukaTheTrophyWife Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:05 AM
Response to Original message
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.
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SmileyBoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:13 AM
Response to Original message
3. You can build a mansion from scratch in South Fargo for $250,000
Edited on Tue Apr-04-06 01:13 AM by SmileyBoy
Land included.

On the grounds of a golf course, no less.:)
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Capn Sunshine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 08:46 AM
Response to Reply #3
14. ah, yes, but the key:
Edited on Tue Apr-04-06 08:46 AM by Capn Sunshine

South Fargo in winter



San Francisco in winter

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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:23 AM
Response to Reply #14
20. You don't have to shovel fog!
Well said!
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sir_captain Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:21 AM
Response to Original message
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
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Droopy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:26 AM
Response to Original message
5. Move to beautiful West Carrollton, Ohio
I bought a 700 square foot house for $69,900. Convenient to restaurants and shopping.
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SmileyBoy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:36 AM
Response to Reply #5
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.
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 10:19 AM
Response to Reply #5
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....
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Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:47 AM
Response to Original message
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"!
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petronius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:53 AM
Response to Original message
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... :)
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AtomicKitten Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 04:03 AM
Response to Original message
9. and imagine what I pay to rent a house here in SF .... painful
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NMMNG Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 04:19 AM
Response to Original message
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:
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Ariana Celeste Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 04:25 AM
Response to Original message
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
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In_The_Wind Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 07:32 AM
Response to Original message
12. That settles it!

I won't buy a home in San Francisco.
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distantearlywarning Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 07:52 AM
Response to Original message
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)

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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:21 AM
Response to Reply #13
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.
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XemaSab Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #18
22. Northern California IS beautiful
You should come visit sometime! :hi:
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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:51 AM
Response to Reply #22
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.
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laheina Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 12:04 PM
Response to Reply #18
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!
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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:10 PM
Response to Reply #24
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.
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 12:13 PM
Response to Reply #18
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.
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 12:12 PM
Response to Reply #13
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
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Susang Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 10:32 AM
Response to Original message
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
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Gormy Cuss Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 10:36 AM
Response to Original message
17. Don't forget, "homes" include condos and TICs
Edited on Tue Apr-04-06 10:45 AM by Gormy Cuss
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.'
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DrGonzoLives Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:21 AM
Response to Original message
19. No thanks
I'll stick to living in smaller cities and towns, even if they're "red."
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Taverner Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 11:30 AM
Response to Original message
21. Awesome! Prices are FINALLY going down
I remember when it was $800 something
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Shine Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Tue Apr-04-06 01:17 PM
Response to Original message
28. and Santa Cruz county ain't much cheaper....
if at all....
:eyes:
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