Day 23: In 1900, the average household had paid 10 times its family income for a house, and by the 1930s (during the Depression) it was up to over 18 times the family income. And despite the fact that most of us feel housing prices are skyrocketing, the average household only pays about 4 times the family income for a house now. **
Well, I think there are other things not taken into consideration with this statistic - most families in those days only had one income, not two - so I think you could feasibly say we are paying about 7 times a family income.
** from _The New Complete Book of Homebuying_ by Michael Sumichrast, Ronald Shafer, and Martin A. Sumichrast
2 comments:
I think you're right that we're probably paying at least 7X a family income. Home ownership seems like such a far-fetched dream most days. I think we could probably do it, but I'm sure we'd wind up mortgaging our lives away in th eprocess. I love Hawaii more than anything, but the cost of living here is crazy. I guess that's pretty relative, though- I don't think the cost of living is "cheap" anywhere!! It certainly makes me appreciate the hardships our grandparents had to endure. Take care, Jo! :-)
say what you will about idaho and utah but the cost of living is good (except maybe salt lake city, boise, and sun valley). the cost one pays to afford a house is no Target, a dairy farm across the street, and no where to get a chai tea latte. too bad you arent. you could buy the 80 acres for sale next to us.
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