This Would Be a Great Time to Buy a Home If You Had Any Money

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Hamilton Nolan

02/09/11 04:59PM

Filed to: Real Estate

Thanks to the Great Recession's magical cleansing powers, all of the home ownership gains of the past decade's housing boom have already been erased. But there is good news! The affordability of homes has plummeted back down to pre-boom levels in the majority of markets that Moody's surveys. Finally, a home is back in your non-imaginary price range!

"Based on incomes, this is as affordable as it gets," said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics. "If you can get a loan, these are pretty good times to buy."

You can't get a loan though.

[WSJ. Photo: Jeff Turner/ Flickr]

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TedSez 02/09/11 05:23PM

"Home prices still remain overvalued by both measures in several markets, including Seattle, Charlotte, New York and Portland, Ore."

But that three-bedroom in Cleveland is a steal.

mrswillclark 02/09/11 05:26PM

Watching House Hunters, I was shocked the first time I saw the run-down mining shacks on the market for $400,000 in Portland. I had no idea Nike paid that well.

zaika 02/09/11 05:49PM

God, that sucks. I'd totally take advantage of the market if Portland wasn't being such a douchebag about it.

Lars 02/09/11 06:29PM

Boston has the same problem too. Though I thought the article also suggested that home prices would come further down in these markets too.

BaconCat 02/09/11 05:24PM

the greater NYC area is affordable? Yeah, we still need more crashing here please. There is housing in manhattan that you can afford if you're mega-rich, and conversely, there is housing you can afford in Manhattan if you're mega-poor. but Middle class? Fuck you tards. You should just like Jersey or Long Island.

mirepoix 02/09/11 05:26PM

I know, those mega-poors get all the breaks.

BaconCat 02/09/11 05:40PM

Haha, yes. Well, I'm not saying they don't have a genuine need for affordable housing, I'm saying so do the middle class.

AmandaMichele 02/09/11 06:02PM

The house might be the price of a pre boom house, but before the bom when you bought a home it usually came with things like dishwasher, washer/dryer, refrigerator. When people are foreclosed on and sell those things and leave the house to mold, moving in become expensive if you want fancy things like a working kitchen.

matthew006 02/09/11 06:05PM

and copper pipes.

goodtothelastdrop 02/10/11 09:54PM

It's amazing how a house can go to shit when vacant and neglected for a year.

squeakel 02/09/11 06:00PM

I can't believe losers like us were able to buy a house in the Bay Area, but somehow we managed it. It's never been affordable for middle income people and it probably never will be again, so we had to jump on it. It's actually cheaper than renting here at the moment.

It absolutely was a nightmare getting a loan, though, and most of the houses were complete garbage. I think I looked at thirty places before finding one that wasn't sliding off its foundation, next door to a sex offender or twenty feet from a freeway.

goodtothelastdrop 02/10/11 09:48PM

Same here buying in Chicago. We found a great place in a good neighborhood that we could actually afford, and we have no money. The loan process was excruciating and we probably looked at 25 shitholes, I seriously thought of giving up more than once.