> - The median 2BR in Manhattan is $5,550
Holy smokes. Is that a counter argument? Is that a normal price?
> - You can easily get perfectly comfortable 2 BRs in nice neighborhoods for far under $2M.
Yes, you can. 1000 sq ft for $1M. You'll live in a building built in 1930-1960. Is that normal? How many people can afford a million bucks mortgage?
Let's do a back of the envelope calculations. Quick google search:
> Experts suggest you might need an annual income between $100,000 to $225,000, depending on your financial profile, in order to afford a $1 million home.
Since we are talking about families with kids in New York, I would not hold my breath to rely on $100k annually. $200k is much more realistic.
$200k is ~$5500 bi-weekly paycheck if you are not investing anywhere (401k, stocks, etc).
$1M mortgage is apprx. $6,275 per month. So you need 2 paychecks at a minimum to cover your mortgage expenses alone.
You are left with $4,725. Utilities will take another $200/month = $4,525 - $1k (food) = $3,525. Internet + phone + entertainment for kids + home maintenance - $500/month at a minimum. You are left with $3k. That might be enough if you are ready to live like a robot.
Now, all these calculations are based on the fact that you magically had $200k downpayment, which is a massive amount of money by itself. Average account balance of Americans is $4k (40-45 yo population, data from 2019), which means saving $200k is extremely hard.
An average of 6.68% of US households make over 200k. So, roughly 6.7% of the US population can _potentially_ afford to live in an old 1000 sq ft 2BR in Manhattan.
> I know a wide range of NYC kids and their parents of all age ranges. They haven't sacrificed anything growing up here.
Well, I do know as well. But the counter-argument here is that they don't actually realize that they are sacrificing anything. They have a belief that everything is normal, things are going fine, but that's simply not truth. I lived in New York for 10 years and I thought that the place was OK. Once a travelled a bit across the US, I realized how miserable New Yorkers (including myself) are.