Those are fascinating statistics! Speaking as someone that has lived in LA for 30ish years, I know nearly all of these areas quite well.
Here are a few of my initial thoughts:
-I agree that some of these homes are being purchased by “less eduated” people that *perhaps* do not qualify for the loans. They may have heard of the housing boom and just want to get in before it’s too late.
-The downtown area has seen quite a resurgence since 2000, with Staples Center, new restaurants, the subway, etc. The entire area has radically improved. It is possible that people working in these areas are chosing to buy and live nearby. If I worked downtown, I would consider purchasing a house nearby.
-I sincerely doubt that people from outside of the less desirable areas are purchasing inside “just to get in”. You really don’t want to live near downtown if you’re working in the valley, no matter how cheap it is.
I’ve heard boats are great investments and never lose money. Especially sail boats. I’ve also heard that upkeep is minimal. Sounds like the housing market, eh?
smfj, that is interesting! I would not have expected the difference to be that large. I’ve always thought of VC as kin to SD; both relatively close to LA but distant enough to not BE LA.
We have had a ton of new construction in Ventura County. I suspect that is the main reason our median is so high. I also suspect we have a much stronger employment environment; there are many high-tech companies here. Beyond that, a lot of people commute from V.C. to the San Fernando Valley, West LA and downtown. In my area, it is very difficult to buy ANY house for less than $500K, but that situation is improving daily.
August 15, 2006 at 11:52 AM
in reply to: Geez!#31961
I appreciate your posts, although I have one criticism about your last one. While you’re decrying lack of intelligence of some realtors, you’ve mispelled “their” twice! Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
Yes, but it will take some time. I personally don’t look to the degrees a person has, I look for the intelligence in their statements. There are a lot of PhDs that never produced anything worthwhile on this planet, and plenty of high school dropouts that produced a lot.
The main thing is for you to decide what you want to produce in this world, and work back from there.
I guess I am somewhat expecting that investors will try to pick up NOD properties for a song, but I don’t know. If that were to happen, actual foreclosures would not rise rapidly, which is clearly not going to be the case. I’m just thinking this through out loud (in writing); it still doesn’t make sense to buy a NOD property if the values are declining rapidly, the profit margin isn’t there.
