Affordable California Living?? - Beyond Tiki

H Hanalei_Pirate Member Joined: May 15, 2003 Posts: 136	H Hanalei_Pirate Posted posted on Fri, Aug 8, 2003 6:27 PM People ask how much further the prices can go up down here in L.A./So. Calif. - well, when I first started looking for a house over a year ago, it was for a $300,000 house and then by the time we finally got a place the market for what we wanted to buy had surpassed $400K. The fact that Apple Valley is rising fast means this trend is happening all over California. Just look at what happened to the Antelope Valley - it is full of houses, it is hot and they are all stuck out there in their nice little air-conditioned boxes having to commute to jobs in the L.A. area on just one freeway - the 14, Some employment has moved out there but it is mostly housing. And now the housing there is not that cheap anymore - like, $300K for a house (although you will get a brand new 2 story house for that) - you have to go to Palmdale and further to find any new houses in the $200K range. Of course how much are people willing to pay to live in So. Calif.? I have a theory about this and it has to do with immigration and the constant push on the housing supply - the prices will continue to go up as long as there are people willing to pay. Immigration puts a heavy demand on the housing stock here - immigrant families are willing to live in extended family situations in order to afford a house. The Armenian guy next door has his mom or grandma living in the garage and just added another shack onto the back of his place - having a nuclear family in So. Calif. is fast becoming an unaffordable lifestyle. Someone came to my door the other day and tried to give me info on "say no to drugs" asked me if I had any kids. I said, heck, I was lucky enough to buy a house - and I'm driving a 12 year old car with almost 200,000 miles on it, how can I afford to have a kid? I feel really sorry for those who have kids, work and live in L.A., and have to make the decision to move to So. Pasadena (one of only 2 rumored to be remaining "good" public school districts left) - houses there are spiraling out of control due to the limited supply and big demand. Due to immigration and the desirability of housing in So. Calif. don't expect the market here to drop - unless we have a huge depression "crash" like we did in 1990 - I believe the housing prices will just continue to go up - non-stop into the future for this area - those who can afford it will stay and those who can't will either have to leave, commute really far or move to apartments. Heck, apartments are skyrocketing here too. Where we left our rental in Silverlake I am pretty sure the Landlady was able to raise the rent on that place a couple hundred more than we'd been paying - easily (we were protected by rent control) - uh, I'm rambling - I guess I should try to cover one issue at a time per post!

People ask how much further the prices can go up down here in L.A./So. Calif. - well, when I first started looking for a house over a year ago, it was for a $300,000 house and then by the time we finally got a place the market for what we wanted to buy had surpassed $400K. The fact that Apple Valley is rising fast means this trend is happening all over California. Just look at what happened to the Antelope Valley - it is full of houses, it is hot and they are all stuck out there in their nice little air-conditioned boxes having to commute to jobs in the L.A. area on just one freeway - the 14, Some employment has moved out there but it is mostly housing. And now the housing there is not that cheap anymore - like, $300K for a house (although you will get a brand new 2 story house for that) - you have to go to Palmdale and further to find any new houses in the $200K range.

Of course how much are people willing to pay to live in So. Calif.? I have a theory about this and it has to do with immigration and the constant push on the housing supply - the prices will continue to go up as long as there are people willing to pay. Immigration puts a heavy demand on the housing stock here - immigrant families are willing to live in extended family situations in order to afford a house. The Armenian guy next door has his mom or grandma living in the garage and just added another shack onto the back of his place - having a nuclear family in So. Calif. is fast becoming an unaffordable lifestyle. Someone came to my door the other day and tried to give me info on "say no to drugs" asked me if I had any kids. I said, heck, I was lucky enough to buy a house - and I'm driving a 12 year old car with almost 200,000 miles on it, how can I afford to have a kid? I feel really sorry for those who have kids, work and live in L.A., and have to make the decision to move to So. Pasadena (one of only 2 rumored to be remaining "good" public school districts left) - houses there are spiraling out of control due to the limited supply and big demand. Due to immigration and the desirability of housing in So. Calif. don't expect the market here to drop - unless we have a huge depression "crash" like we did in 1990 - I believe the housing prices will just continue to go up - non-stop into the future for this area - those who can afford it will stay and those who can't will either have to leave, commute really far or move to apartments. Heck, apartments are skyrocketing here too. Where we left our rental in Silverlake I am pretty sure the Landlady was able to raise the rent on that place a couple hundred more than we'd been paying - easily (we were protected by rent control) - uh, I'm rambling - I guess I should try to cover one issue at a time per post!

Post #46986 by Hanalei_Pirate on Fri, Aug 8, 2003 6:27 PM