re: The math for buying a home no longer works, per WSJ

quote:

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Homes don't dictate the income needed. Income dictates the home which you can afford.

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I completely disagree. Where you buy is just as important as what you buy. And where people want to buy is the whole point of this thread. Take SELA right now. Even the DR Horton communities are running in the high $200s in decent areas.

Our first house was in a subdivision just outside Hammond. It was a small house, starter home. I paid $145000 in 2008. I sold in 2020 for $145500. The person that bought it sold it last year for $230000. I can’t imagine paying $230k for that house. As a young couple paying 7-8% on a mortgage, we couldn’t have afforded that house. And this was a pretty basic 1200 sf spec home in Tangi.

And that’s the whole point. This is a way bigger deal than people are making it out to be. Because rent isn’t better anywhere either. And that makes people immobile, and will hamper economic development. What are people supposed to do if they can’t find a affordable place to live anywhere near their place of work?

This isn’t some “get off my lawn and don’t buy houses above your station” issue. Sometimes I think the OT is so out of touch with reality it’s maddening.