Just because I'm bored and partly because I was lucky enough to get a good place at the right time, I check the real estate market around me once in a while. It's still ridiculous. A quarter of a percent increase in mortgage rates deters no one.
Overpriced dumps in Sacramento (CA) sell in a maximum of six days, with multiple offers on the table frequently pushing values up as much as ten percent--this is like bidding war on sub-$300k stuff. We're talking 800-1200 foot places; in areas that didn't used to be so great, but are considered swell and quaint now, $500k will get you an old piece of junk (new paint + carpet with 50 year old windows no better than cellophane) with maybe 1500 feet of "living" space. The (local) job market (pay) does not remotely coordinate with what this stuff costs.
New places ("single family homes") starting at $500-600k down the street from me have been selling with literally no inventory, i.e., faster than they can be built (in December!). There is a waiting list for stuff that does not exist on the tiniest of lots. This looks just like 12 years ago, but some of the prices will undoubtedly hold better than others. Some will not . . .
Let's not even talk about the Bay Area (San Mateo?), where a small, yet newish 2-bedroom condo will ask at 900k, or you can pay $3000.00/mo for a crappy 2-bedroom apartment (Mountain View?). Someone mentioned San Francisco, which really isn't even mentionable anymore, since it was determined that you need to make at least two million a year to buy anything fixed on dirt in the city/county.
It's tough all over, but some have had good timing. For some places, though, it's like waiting until Beverly Hills becomes affordable. Just head east, really, really far.
