Abasket, that’s why several of my Midwestern raised friends are having their teacher kids move in with aunts and uncles in Texas (and probably other states). If you are fortunate enough to student teach and make a good impression in an urban or suburban district, your starting salary is going to be between 46,000 and 50,000.
Of course the upward trend is pretty flat. After 15 years I make about 5000more than a new hire.
3scoutsmom, thanks. I am going to be off the board any minute…I may take you up on your offer.
But don’t be shy…there are lurkers.
Ok…I have to go. Now. 
@dstark looking forward to it! You wouldn’t believe some of the craziness in the Austin area!
I agree with bunsenburner that the Seattle numbers must have included smaller cities well to the north and south of Seattle itself. (Bodies of water limit the ability to go east and west.)
This 3-bed, 1-bath, 1,150 square-foot home in a nice neighborhood of Seattle, built in 1949 and well maintained but not significantly updated, was listed in August for $725,000. It sold after 8 days on the market and 15 bids, for $1,025,500. http://www.windermere.com/listing/WA/Seattle/4545-48th-Ave-NE-98105/45544387
The DC-area number is not realistic, either.
A family of four with income of $76,500 would qualify for a Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit in our suburban DC county. Median home price is right around $450k, an hour’s commute outside of DC. That is NOT for a new home. Most single family stock in this area dates to the 1960s and is 2000-2400 sq ft. New construction is starting at $600k for townhouses, $700k for single family houses. School system is excellent, property taxes not terrible, state taxes higher than average.
The 20% downpayment is a real hurdle. We did an 80-10-10 back in the day.
I can’t imagine having a mortgage payment representing a 28-33% chunk of our income. Neither can most of the young adults who grew up in our neighborhood. Those who haven’t moved away are living at home or in shared housing. My son who works in SV is also in shared housing. He doesn’t plan to buy out there, so this works for him right now. My DC area S is living at home.
This whole discussion is why I feel so differently about college grads living at home than I did when I was at that stage. My H and I were able to put a downpayment on a condo in a nice suburban area shortly after we got married. It would be very rare for someone to be able to do that today, unless they were already sitting on funds.
I don’t think homes are any less affordable now than they were back in the 80’s. I remember 11% interest rates right around the time Jimmy Carter was in office, and my parents could not afford a mortgage. I also remember a huge boom in the mid 80’s when house prices went crazy. It’s pretty cyclical.
Right now there is a huge bust in the Miami condo market-too much building, too much speculation, and the South American market for them has dried up because of economic woes in their home countries. There are some steals right now for condos there in very nice areas of Miami.
In our county it really depends on where you look. If you are willing to live in an area with immigrants there are some good deals. I’ve got a client who bought a tiny house (800 sq ft) for $80,000. There’s a house listed as “courageous” for $175,000 in a pretty decent neighborhood. It’s a turn of the century house - about 2000 sq ft. I’m sure it’s a wreck inside, but those houses were well-made - it’s got a fireplace, two bathrooms and a porch. Nobody around here expects a new house. You move to the inner suburbs because you like older houses.
Of course Manhattan is crazy and so is Scarsdale, but there are affordable places to live.
I reverse-engineered the Philadelphia number, and it’s pretty credible. The formula they are using – how much do you have to earn so that 28% of it covers a 30-year fixed mortgage payment on a median-priced home you purchased with 20% equity? – implies that the median home is about $344,000. That’s assuming the 28% mortgage payment doesn’t include insurance or real estate tax escrow. A young person or couple could definitely get a livable (not perfect) house in a decent (not perfect) neighborhood for that price. Now, I don’t really think you could actually afford that on a $53,400 income. If I include taxes and insurance in the monthly payment, and also take closing costs into account, then the implied affordable house would have to be around $285,000, and that’s a lot more challenging, but not impossible.
(After writing the above, I checked the article underlying the Huffpost story. They definitely included tax and insurance payments in the mortgage payments, and at a pretty high rate. The median home they say you could afford on a $53,400 income in Philadelphia would cost $232,000. I don’t know that that’s realistic. There are lots of homes available for less, but they are in challenging neighborhoods and usually present internal challenges as well – not something you would buy unless you had the skills, time, and capital to do a lot of fixing up, and faith your neighbor wouldn’t abandon his house or turn it into a crack house. Or they are really tiny. Or in foreclosure.)
@JHS wrote
It’s just not real life to leave off the TI part of the PITI that is your monthly payment. Even if you can put 20% down and waive the escrow account (which I don’t think anyone but the most financially disciplined people should do), 28% before TI is hefty.
In Atlanta city (vs Metro Atlanta) the taxes on homes are HUGE compared to some of the nearby counties. Literally I pay less than half in property taxes 40 minutes north of the city than what I’d pay inside the line.
I just saw a post on my Facebook news feed within the past few days for a 2,000 s.f. house on a 5,400 s.f. lot in a “typical looking” Mountain View, CA neighborhood. Price: $2,888,000. I thought my town of Walnut Creek CA was pricey…
@MotherOfDragons : As I indicated, the actual study took PITI into account, at what seemed like a high level to me, but probably it was realistic. If they hadn’t included PITI in the payment calculations, it would have implied a median value of around $340,000, but the actual number was $232,000…
When I see these prices, I think that I am never getting dh to leave this area. Our homes are very inexpensive. Beautiful 5000sq ft home on an acreage- $500,000 and that is uncommon as most really nice homes are $250,000 to $400,000. Fly over states do have their advantages.
@jshain, I was at Walnut Creek and Rossmoor a month ago. Walnut Creek is pricey.
I hope that photo in your avatar is a picture of your father. 
dstark, I’m young at heart! I live very close to Rossmoor… about a half-mile from their gate, also in the Tice Valley area of Walnut Creek.
@jshain, that’s a nice area!
I find this interesting because it compares price appreciation between a few cities over a 30 year period.
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/trulia-economist-san-francisco-real-estate-cooling-132201506.html
Mountain View is insane. My son just rents there!