HOORAY!! HOUSE PRICES GOING UP!

[local]

Refi in '18 to wipe out our accumulated debt from having kids and losing an income in '13. Currently owing 140 and our place is worth approximately 200. We want to move, this is a starter home we bought in '10 when we had no kids in a terrible town full of meth. My problem is that sure we have about 60k to use for an "upgrade" but the places we are looking at have experienced the exact same growth so houses in the 200-250 range are the same or worse than where we live now. 35 year old manufactured houses are going for 300k now, it is insane. We already live 35 miles outside of the city so moving further out is prohibitive in commute time.

I honestly do not understand how this market is supposed to work for anyone but the out of state money people that are driving the costs up.

 

[K1052]

The house next door listed Saturday and had an open house Sunday. Street was jammed all Sunday afternoon with parked cars from people coming to see it. It's listed for double the psf we paid in 2019, is several decades older, and is presently in a bidding war.

Crazy stuff.

 

[fskimospy]

The house next door listed Saturday and had an open house Sunday. Street was jammed all Sunday afternoon with parked cars from people coming to see it. It's listed for double the psf we paid in 2019, is several decades older, and is presently in a bidding war.

Crazy stuff.

I imagine at the moment everyone is trying to get in before interest rates go up further, which is probably a smart idea.

 

[K1052]

I imagine at the moment everyone is trying to get in before interest rates go up further, which is probably a smart idea.

Around here a lot of stuff is going for cash or so I hear anecdotally. South Austin was already a competitive area but it's a gladiator arena now.

 

[fskimospy]

Around here a lot of stuff is going for cash or so I hear anecdotally. South Austin was already a competitive area but it's a gladiator arena now.

While I imagine sales go to a lot of cash buyers as sellers clearly prefer them I have a hard time believing you have a line down the block of cash buyers. Did a quick and dirty check on mortgage applications data and there was about a 25% spike in January and February as compared to late last year, which now seems to be trending downward.

 

[K1052]

While I imagine sales go to a lot of cash buyers as sellers clearly prefer them I have a hard time believing you have a line down the block of cash buyers. Did a quick and dirty check on mortgage applications data and there was about a 25% spike in January and February as compared to late last year, which now seems to be trending downward.

Quite a few CA plates so my best guess is tech with a lot of RSU dollars to spend. I doubt this is the situation for the entire city though. People buying up in say Round Rock are going to be financing like most of the metro.

 

[MtnMan]

I imagine at the moment everyone is trying to get in before interest rates go up further, which is probably a smart idea.

Not if you end up paying too much because you were in a bidding war.

 

[Denly]

I don't know how it is where you are but in Toronto there has been lots of foreign money (investors and some people actually living there) coming in buying up houses and multiple condo units. It was crazy back in 2017, new buyer rules were introduced to curb that and it maybe helped a little bit, but prices are still higher than in 2017.

Wages absolutely did not keep pace with the price of housing in Toronto in the last ~10 yrs or so.
Younger people are having to move way outside the city to actually afford a house.

Foreign $$ is only part of the issue, building cost, labors, low interest, cheap CAD, WFH, regulation....tons of factors. I am lucky enough to buy my first at the late 90s low then 2006 then the 2018 low, I have no dog in this fight but I actually feel sorry for the young that can't afford down payment.
Now if you want to be more affordable you need to get out of GTA. I think many young couple can afford the monthly payment just not the down.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Foreign $$ is only part of the issue, building cost, labors, low interest, cheap CAD, WFH, regulation....tons of factors. I am lucky enough to buy my first at the late 90s low then 2006 then the 2018 low, I have no dog in this fight but I actually feel sorry for the young that can't afford down payment.
Now if you want to be more affordable you need to get out of GTA. I think many young couple can afford the monthly payment just not the down.

Yep the down payment and closing costs are killer. That's the biggest barrier. I make well above median income and I only did 5% down (plus seller assistance on closing costs - preferred to have cash on hand in case of home emergency).

I went pretty conservative in terms of home price - my entire mortgage plus taxes, interest, and PMI is something like 15% of my monthly gross income

 

[RearAdmiral]

Yep the down payment and closing costs are killer. That's the biggest barrier. I make well above median income and I only did 5% down (plus seller assistance on closing costs - preferred to have cash on hand in case of home emergency).

I went pretty conservative in terms of home price - my entire mortgage plus taxes, interest, and PMI is something like 15% of my monthly gross income

Awesome! That's my main concern about "upgrading". My wife and I are right around the 15% net pay mark for mortgage/tax/insurance. Having all the extra money and flexibility is great. Plus we will probably have her stop working full time once we have another kid in the next couple of years. I'd be very nervous about being house poor.

 

[Wreckem]

When we built out house in 2017 is was $281000. We put 5% down. Lender paid closing costs + a 3% rebate from a realtor. Our rate was 4.65 and we had PMI. We were able to refinance and get a pool while removing PMI and still having a sub substantially lower house payment with the pool. Win win.

To build our house now would be $380-400k. There was a recent $25k jump in pricing since December.

 

[Wreckem]

When we built out house in 2017 is was $281000. We put 5% down. Lender paid closing costs + a 3% rebate from a realtor. Are rate was 4.65 and we had PMI. We were able to refinance and get a pool while removing PMI and still having a sub substantially lower house payment with the pool. Win win.

To build our house now would be $380-400k. There was a recent $25k jump in pricing since Dec.