San Diego 4th most expensive city?

[jeff303]

Did anyone else see this being reported locally in the past couple days? Here’s one example article: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/San-Diego-Is-4th-Most-Expensive-US-City–279089321.html

The source of all this appears to be a BLS report (PDF): http://www.bls.gov/spotlight/2014/housing/pdf/housing.pdf

Is it just me or is the reporting on this, and possibly even the source data itself, really off? First of all, the only data in here that compares costs across cities is from page 7, and the data is from 2011-2012. Direct link to chart image: http://i.imgur.com/wlR5Fqh.png

It lists “shelter” as being approximately the same cost between D.C. and San Francisco. Based on recent data (easily Googled), the median home price in D.C. is somewhere around $460k (as of last April), and in S.F. it passed $1 million this year. So how is it that these spending numbers be the same between these two cities? I realize that prices in S.F. have risen a lot since 2012, but so have D.C.’s.

I suspect the problem is average spending is being reported, rather than median, which would most likely be more illustrative. I think this fact alone makes this chart unsuitable as a proxy for “most expensive cities,” since one can obviously secure acceptable lodging for far less in D.C. than S.F. In addition, this data completely omits transportation costs. At least in S.F., D.C., and NYC, one can easily rely on public transit on an everyday basis, which is arguably not the case here.

[The-Shoveler]

Don’t know, I think the data is changing fast,
coming home from Vegas I was seeing new home signs 10 miles outside Vegas with homes “starting” at 600K.

Maybe there is some catch up happening out there in the wild as well.

[spdrun]

Hopefully this will be “corrected” this winter. For all cities. At least for a few months before the fucks at the Fed start printing again.

[FlyerInHi]

[quote=The-Shoveler]Don’t know, I think the data is changing fast,
coming home from Vegas I was seeing new home signs 10 miles outside Vegas with homes “starting” at 600K.

Maybe there is some catch up happening out there in the wild as well.[/quote]

Did you enjoy Vegas? Visitor numbers are back to peak levels and you’ll notice that hotels aren’t discounting anymore.

That area is called Southern Highlands. Construction jobs have come back nicely in Vegas.

[EconProf]

It is hard to believe San Diego’s housing is almost as expensive as NY, San Francisco, and D.C.
Worse is that our average household incomes are far less than those big cities. I bet that housing expense as a % of household income would place San Diego as the most expensive.

[Hobie]

New homes in Temecula are $600k+. Of course they are ‘green’with solar panels. Still not much in local jobs..big commute. Still nice area w/good schools.

[The-Shoveler]

[quote=FlyerInHi][quote=The-Shoveler]Don’t know, I think the data is changing fast,
coming home from Vegas I was seeing new home signs 10 miles outside Vegas with homes “starting” at 600K.

Maybe there is some catch up happening out there in the wild as well.[/quote]

Did you enjoy Vegas? Visitor numbers are back to peak levels and you’ll notice that hotels aren’t discounting anymore.

That area is called Southern Highlands. Construction jobs have come back nicely in Vegas.[/quote]

Had a great time, we were able to find a nice hotel a bit off the strip and was mid week so we got a good deal as well.
(no need for a real fancy hotel anyway, all it needs to be is clean and quiet for us Old fogies LOL).

Vegas is a great way to take a small “adult” vacation for a few days, no place for kiddies though.

We go about every two years.

I could see someone retiring there to cruse the casinos once a week or so.

[poorgradstudent]

Obviously this data is going to depend on how one defines the “metro area”. Is Santee part of the San Diego metro? What about Esco? Chula vista?

When a lot of us think about NYC we think about Manhattan, maybe Brooklyn. I’m curious if they put Oakland into “San Francisco” and if Bellvue ended up part of Seattle?

There’s no way NYC shouldn’t be number 1, despite how much DC has risen in recent decades. But SD as #4 “feels” about right. Baltimore, Boston, and LA are all expensive and in the same ballpark, and Chicago and Dallas are definitely cheaper. But it’s definitely a “Big Three” (DC, SF, and NYC) with SD barely sitting on top of the second tier.

[spdrun]

If you’re comparing center cities, I’d say that SF might trump Manhattan right now. For sure SF would “win” over the five boroughs of NYC.

I’d also say that my gut says that SF + burbs is more expensive than NYC + burbs. There are a lot more poor/cheap areas within 20 miles of NYC than near SF.

Keep in mind also that this survey totals average costs. It doesn’t compare apples to apples. If the norm is a 4 bedroom house in city #1, and people spend slightly more on housing than in city #2, where the norm is a 2 bedroom apartment, city #1 will be seen as more expensive. Even though you actually get more “bang for the buck” in city #1 and could live more cheaply (take roommates, buy a duplex, whatever).

[FlyerInHi]

poorgradstudent, I agree that it feels about right.

I would put San Diego at about #7 though (its ranking on the largest cities list).

The top 10 lists are always wrong and they make up new ones all time.

Honolulu is definitely more expensive than San Diego. Baltimore is cheaper, and there’re lots of buying opportunities, especially downtown Baltimore. LA is more expensive depending on how your define LA. Orange County is more expensive.

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