The Ten Most (And Least) Affordable Cities To Buy A Home: 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St.:

After years of weak housing markets, home sellers are hopeful that this spring’s home-buying season will finally lift prices. In positive news, RealtyTrac reported in March that national foreclosures fell to their lowest levels in five years. Unfortunately, the number of homes that received first-time foreclosure notices also rose 7% in March from the previous month, the third consecutive increase this year.

Read the whole story at 24/7 Wall St.

Comments

[Siebenstein]

07:04 AM on 04/24/2012

Yup, I live in CA and prices suck.

[AlonzoQuijana]

01:06 PM on 04/23/2012

Good article here on why California has such expensive housing, and why, as a result it is losing middle class population.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304444604577340531861056966.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read

Basic points: over taxation, runaway government, and stringent land use rules and regs are making life all but impossible for the middle class. Only the rich and the poor are doing well in Califiornia.

[AlonzoQuijana]

10:32 AM on 04/23/2012

Not a surprise that California is so expensive. High taxes. Lots of regulation. And in many places, land use policies that discourage new construction. (If allowed to develop normally, with market forces, SF would have high rise condos everywhere). So, blame runaway government for much of the difference.

As a long-time, former resident of NYC, I noticed that the housing squeeze eased when rent control / rent stabilization started to phase out the city eased up on zoning and allowing new construction.

[Siebenstein]

07:05 AM on 04/24/2012

B_S, regulation isn't the issue.

[AlonzoQuijana]

09:28 AM on 04/24/2012

I lived with rent control and rent stabilization. In the mid 80-s it was all but impossible to find housing. Landlords demanded huge "key money" payments to lease rent controlled and stabilized apartments. They refused to make repairs given the artificially low rents. (you had to appeal to some city bureaucracy which took months -- not helpful when you did not have hot water on a cold Jan morning). And you had millionaire, childless people renting three bedroom UWS apartments for $400 a month. Young people were punished by these WW2 "emergency" regulations, still in effect a generation later.

Don;t tell me about regulation.

[Siebenstein]

07:05 AM on 04/24/2012

For Libertarians it of course is.

[cccoyote]

02:36 AM on 04/23/2012

More 24/7 Wall Street click/data harvesting garbage.

[uninterestedbystander]

12:21 PM on 04/23/2012

Agreed. Thank goodness for Ghostery.

[guitartapper]

02:31 AM on 04/23/2012

If you don't have a job...does this really matter?

[jumperpin]

12:12 AM on 04/23/2012

Top 10 this....bottom 20 that. Just a sleazy way to harvest more clicks. Boycott "slideshows".

[PiratesForObama]

10:37 PM on 04/22/2012

IF you are paying more than $150 per square foot , then you are overpaying and at a premium

[KIVPossum]

12:36 AM on 04/23/2012

Always taught to follow the 100 times rent rule

[phill273]

09:41 PM on 04/22/2012

If Las Vegas wasn't on the list, then I wouldn't have put much faith in the list.

[InnaGaddaDaVida]

09:39 AM on 04/23/2012

It is

[peebo]

09:34 PM on 04/22/2012

How is JC more expensive than NYC? I don't get that.

[AlonzoQuijana]

10:33 AM on 04/23/2012

Lots of luxury housing being built along the Hudson. I worked there a few years ago. Amazing how it has transformed.

Also, NYC includes the outer boroughs.

[jhuffington]

06:49 PM on 04/22/2012

Seriously HP? You made me read this. CA, HI, DC, and NY most expensive places to live. And OH, NV, IN, and MI least expensive. Shocker!

[JShankel]

12:15 PM on 04/23/2012

They made you read this?  You had no choice?

[jhuffington]

05:22 PM on 04/23/2012

None. Isn't that sad?

[Enid]

03:09 PM on 04/22/2012

This article interesting maybe ?
Looked being interested.
What I got was one lead after another to get me to buy or do something.
You think I will pay this price well this reader will not.
Will also hold grudge against advertisers that co conspire in this BS..

[JScott]

11:32 AM on 04/22/2012

Yup the most desirable locations are in California, this despite it being one of the least liked states as posted on here a while back...........just proves yeah we don't like it but secretly we want to live here.

[outahere]

08:25 PM on 04/22/2012

It's no secret, I wouldn't live any other place. Wish more people disliked it, though. Wouldn't mind the population rolled back to a few decades ago. I read here, remarks by those living in other states, that people are leaving Ca. in droves. I don't see it.

[Sandmanj]

12:30 PM on 04/23/2012

The CA-haters have been saying for decades that people are leaving CA in droves. Yet people keep moving here and the population keeps increasing, as real estate prices continue to be some of the highest in the nation, indicating the desirability of owning a home here.

[Ri Wired]

02:57 PM on 05/01/2012

I wish I didn't see the droves of Californian's moving to Las Vegas. But, it gives me hope that since they are leaving San Francisco, L.A. etc to move here, it might give me some room to move to California. But then if I was gonna do that, I might as well move back to New York. :\

[ColdCruiser]

09:40 AM on 04/23/2012

The climate and natural beauty of Coastal California makes us forget how poorly governed we are.

[gator-grad]

10:20 AM on 04/23/2012

I'll take the state government in CA over AZ, FL, WI, KS, MI, OH, VA, and so on...

[Ri Wired]

02:59 PM on 05/01/2012

Coastal is the key word here! :)