General Discussion

The median household income won't afford the median priced home.

Much of this has to do with the lack of building between 2008 and 2013 where something like 15% of the homes that should have been built actually were. This has caused an artificial shortage across the country. The other issue is an influx of people to this area.

However, its not all supply and demand. Most builders and real estate agents are, at minimum, "scruples compromised", if not out right crooked. Builders doubled their required profit and real estate agents began marketing almost exclusively to people outside the area who had more money than locals. Building costs never came back down after the "supply chain" issues worked themselves out(surprise, surprise!) and prices never came back down after the "Great Bidding War of 2022". People who have 2.5%-3% mortgages are not going to sell their homes, which just adds to a "shortage" of available homes. The only thing keeping prices up is the combination of a small number of homes being offered for sale at any given time coupled with a relatively small pool of buyers. However, if prices were lowered across the board back to pre-pandemic levels, we'd have a vibrant market. Its ludicrous. Housing has essentially been "stolen" from working people and working families and reserved for those with two paychecks or a house hold income of at least $100K.