The only solution in aggregate is political, indeed. I didn't mean to suggest individual choice of where to live as a solution to the socio-political problem, but it can be an individual's solution to present situation that's making you miserable. Even that's not available to everyone, but just for those who can manage to get a job that pays well more than typical for the USA, even if not enough to live comfortable in Seattle. As long as you buy before the place "blows up", you're good even if it does. But if you want to reduce the chances the place you pick will "blow up" for a good long time, and are willing to live a place with less obvious regional amenities to do so, while there's no guarantee, we can all come up with places that seem like good bets. Des Moines maybe? Median house price $185K compared to $870K in Seattle.
Boring at times, but it's a lively enough city and you can still park in front your destination for free, which I've always appreciated.
Factor 1 - Very low interest rates allow people to borrow large sums.
Factor 2 - NIMBY-ism is in various degrees the de facto policy in most major cities, so very little new housing is built there.
Factor 1 might be ending as we speak, since the Fed is talking about changing policy.
Factor 2... I wish it will change, but don't have a ton of hope.
Bingo. If you want to be part of the solution, this is a good group of people: https://yimbyaction.org/2021/
Although, it must be said that building homes takes time, and getting the politics right takes time, so don't think of it as a short-term solution.
Builders want to build. Let's make it easier for them to do that.
Millions of people could live there.
In 2021 there is not a single remote corner of this place that's affordable anymore.
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-12-04/arkans...
And of course there’s plenty of cities that were reasonable a couple years ago but are creeping up: Boise residents complain constantly about all the transplants, and I expect Raleigh to look a lot like Austin in 10-15 years (to give a couple examples).
I'm in Madison, WI. The house I'm currently in was 180k back in '09. It has appreciated some since then. My neighbors have each turned over in the past decade and have sold their house for ~$300k.
If you go with 500k, you're in a very nice part of town or one of the extremely large corner lots. Most of the houses are in the 300k - 350k range.
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1305-N-Thompson-Dr-Madiso... isn't uncommon.
> And the worse the weather is, the better the real-estate value.
That's a big consideration for many people. Little tolerance for the winter.
But, for example, while Boston/Cambridge are very pricey in general as are some of the more exclusive suburbs with good school systems, there's almost certainly housing in that general range within an hour drive (or even on a commuter rail).
I think the income levels interest rates have helped raise values, but I think income has more to do with it. You’ll see high prices anywhere that can support workers, and they will pay for proximity.
That was all the incentive I needed to stay put. IIRC, I wasn't making that much more than $70k at the time but I could have worked in a coffee shop and paid my mortgage.
Median home values (per Zillow):
San Francisco: $1,526K
Seattle: $870K
Austin: $606K
Dallas: $287K
Houston: $238K
Seattle: 0.930% of Assessed Home Value
SF: 0.640% of Assessed Home Value
Dallas: 1.930% of Assessed Home Value
Austin: 1.820% of Assessed Home Value
Houston: 2.030% of Assessed Home Value
Another important thing about property taxes is to know when an updated assessed value is triggered and if there are any limits on how it changes. For example in SF, the assessed value is basically set to the sale price, immediately. But then the assessed value doesn't change until there's another property sale (or permitted improvements are made).
In some states assessed values are updated every year regardless of sales or improvements. [2]
[1] https://sftreasurer.org/property/secured-property-taxes
[2] https://taxfoundation.org/state-provisions-property-reassess...
Putting taxes on sales and property means that even those paid under the table can't escape taxation.
How this shapes the valuation of other things, like houses, is an interesting second order effect. Property tax rates shape how affordable housing is during the mortgage period and after.
1. https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Why-do-publ...
2. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-mayor-resigns-aft...
Second reaction - so uh where in Oklahoma exactly?