History of U.S. Housing Prices 1890-2006

[T.S.]

The increase in recent years is just ridiculous compared to all previous increases.

[kdm31091]

That's ridiculous, I wish it would crash back down. Call me crazy but when the median price in most nice places is $200k+ I don't find that "affordable", when 10 years ago it was like $80k. Doesn't seem like a reasonable increase.

[thecuban]

Thats incredible. Do you think we owe that rise to lower interest rates a good economy or both?

[T.S.]

All I know is that it sucks for people looking to buy a decent first house without spending 200k+ in most areas.

I really hope to see it come back down again.

[NHYRNUT]

Sold mine at just the right time. Oh what luck. Now it can come down and I can but another so I'll have 2. I'm greedy like that.

[CandyApple]

Thats incredible. Do you think we owe that rise to lower interest rates a good economy or both?

I think we owe it to the banks being willing to loan out money up to the maximum amount a person can afford every month. Instead of people thinking, "Hey, the rates are lower, I can get my loan paid off sooner," they think, "Hey the rates are lower, I can spend more on the house and still be paying less then rent!"

I've noticed that the people I talk to don't think of home ownership in terms of paying as much as hundreds of thousands of dollars for a place to live, but in terms of how their monthly payment will compare to renting a place.

Another thing is, as long as the population increases, house prices will generally go up because land, especially in desirable locations, will keep getting relatively scarcer. I think once the population stabilizes house prices will too.

[T.S.]

Things are slowly coming down in this area as more sellers accept reality. Some are still trying to get bubble prices and unwilling to lower their selling price though. I have watched some homes sit on the market for over a year without a change in price. There is a nice slow, but steady downward trend when I look at all the local sale graphs though.

Lately I have been getting self proclaimed real estate know-it-alls telling me how dumb I am to rent right now. They insist I should buy now while the market is "down" because soon it will "rebound" to its previous craziness. Most of the ones talking probably have $500,000 ARMS resetting to 20% interest this year on houses now valued at about $300,000 or less. I don't even try to argue with them anymore, as it is totally pointless.

[PDXnative]

I blame all those "Flip this house" shows.

[T.S.]

Originally Posted by PDXnative

I blame all those "Flip this house" shows.

Yeah, those probably didn't help things much either. Suddenly everybody with a little extra money thought they could get rich quick flipping houses.

One of those shows has been playing mostly failed flip episodes lately, I think it is "Property Ladder". It is funny to watch them come out negative in the end.

[PDXnative]

Some of those flips are just a waste of money, too. I have seen them rip out some really nice kitchens only to replace them with crappy looking ones.