[quote=SK in CV][quote=bearishgurl]Again, folks … “salaries” (in relation to price of housing) only matters in *some* CA markets. In well-established areas, a much larger percentage of buyers use all cash or mostly cash for purchase money. Buyers utilizing 1031 exchanges typically don’t have to come up with very much cash because they trade “like for like.” Also, it is not uncommon in well-established areas for longtime neighbors to pay cash for a nearby prospective listing for a residence for other family members or gift a large downpayment to the buyer (typically a relative) OR tell distant relatives who will be cash buyers of a nearby prospective listing (before it is put on the MLS with the commensurate price increase). This can only happen if the listing agent/broker goes door to door telling neighbors of the listing before it is actually marketed (again, this is common practice in well-established areas).
[/quote]
Can you name a single market where salary (or income) doesn’t matter because most homes are purchased for cash that is other than the very top end of the market? (it may be true in RSF. I doubt it’s true in LJ.)[/quote]
I don’t know about LJ (since there are so many condos and PUDS in and around it) but it is true in typical “working class” areas of SD county where a large portion of longtime (30+ yr) owners are still in residence. For example, Lemon Grove, El Cajon, Chula Vista, National City and even popular SD areas such as Allied Gardens and San Carlos.
In these areas, a longtime former rental SFR could have been found in recent years for $200K to $300K and perhaps $350K now. These houses are typically 1100 sf to 2200 sf and vary wildly in condition. The “public” often never learns about them because they “sold” before being placed on the MLS (as “traditional sales”).
You might be shocked as to how many households have $300K+ lying around earning next to nothing.
I’ve stated it here several times. You can’t judge a book by its cover, its house or the car it drives :=]
If you never leave your “planned development” except to go to work in your “planned office park” and shop in your “master-planned strip mall,” you’ll never be able to see up front and personal how the (gritty?) “real world” operates :=0
