1) Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s musings on the root causes of our current economic and political problems. It’s a really good comment in a larger discussion, certainly worthy of exploration in more detail.
2) The current problems in the home lending industry coupled with insanely obscene housing prices in the SF Bay Area. I have no frakkin’ clue how anybody can afford to buy a house here on only one middle-class salary without relying on hitting the Lotto, and if they do manage to do that, without falling prey to the current crop of predatory lending practices. This feeds into the discussion of the opt out BS.
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I think the preponderance of DINKs (dual-income/no kid couples) in the Bay Area is a significant factor in the housing prices. Beyond that, I think the limited amount of land and the nice climate are the other drivers.
So yeah, I think that for the most part single middle class individuals don’t buy into the local housing market very much, and when they do I would bet it’s in the outlying areas (South San Jose, etc).
re: 1) You should see what’s going on in my part of Fremont, people are paying almost a megabuck for almost 50 year old houses, then tearing them apart for McMansions. A bunch of the newer families in my neighborhood have small children, but it seems that they’re doing this on more than one income.
Single middle class buyers are probably going for the townhomes first. Bill and I looked at the condos down the street from you, and I left freaking out from the cost and the scary mortgages.
I thought mostly people bought houses in the Bay Area by being rich, not middle-income.
re 3) It wasn’t that way in the past. My parents were able to buy their house on one income back in ‘61; money was tight, but it was doable. My father wasn’t a white-collar worker back then. Now, that collar has to be whiter than white and the pockets full of green.