Uneasy Rhetoric

The Housing Tracker looks at current housing inventories (homes for sale) and shows home prices at the 25th, 50th (median), and 75th percentiles. Even better, if you click on a particular city, it shows the change in median price and the change in inventory since the statistics were compiled.

In Sacramento, median price is down 0.4 percent over the last two months, while inventory is up 17.8 percent.

What is even more infuriating is the comparison between cities. Sacramento’s median price is $397,500, higher than the 75th percentile price in 26 cities (there are 47 on the list), including places many would consider “desirable,” such as Austin, Texas or Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota. Surprisingly, Portland, Oregon is actually cheaper (five or six years ago that wasn’t true).

No wonder so many west coasters are moving to Austin. According to an article in today’s New York Times:

Last year, a half million people left California for other parts of the United States, while fewer than 400,000 Americans moved there. The net outflow has risen fivefold, to more than 100,000, since 2001, an analysis by Economy.com, a research company, shows, although immigration from other countries and births have kept the state’s population growing.

And do you want to know why people are moving?

The couple sold a three-bedroom house near Los Angeles for $450,000. They bought a four-bedroom house, with two kitchens and a swimming pool, for $185,000 in Gladstone, Mo., near Kansas City.

With a monthly mortgage payment of only $496, Mr. Osegueda said he hoped he could retire by the time he was 48. In California, he said, “people need to work all their lives to pay off their home.”

That’s it right there. While I might object to the perpetuation of the suburban nightmare (buy more space because you can; have a swimming pool because you can!), you have to admit that Mr. Osegueda has a point. Of course, he also had a house to sell.

(credit: Lifehacker, Calculated Risk)

Update. Wait a second. Did I read that right? Two kitchens? Holy mother of ….