LA's homes are uber-expen$ive. I was just wondering how people (especially from outside of California), can afford some of the ridiculously priced homes. My home in suburban Toronto is 3000+ sq.ft. with 4br, 2.5ba, den, family room, and 3 lvls (incl. bsmt), yet it costs around half the amount of the house which I am staying in right now in West Covina which is a bungalow about 1/3 the size of my house with 3br 2ba and no family room or den. I LOVE LA, I hope to move here in the future, but how or where can people afford a house similar to the description of my place. I wonder if there is some kind of government aid for first time buyers in California. Care to shed some light?

I think that many people who move there take a big lifestyle adjustment, there is no way many people could move from places in the east and midwest and live the same as they do at home as in LA

L.A. can be very expensive, but people learn to adjust to it. Actually, outside L.A. can be less-expensive than you might think. When I say outside of L.A. I do mean like 40 miles away from the downtown center.

Lancaster / Palmdale? Maybe uhh Oxnard and parts of Camarillo LOL

I can take the lifestyle adjustment...after all, I'm originally from the west coast. :)

BTW...I've been to Lancaster and I don't think I want to be that far away. I was thinking more something in Orange County.

Orange county? Oh yeah, they're practically giving houses away there!!

Here in Palmdale and Lancaster, house prices are skyrocketing as well since I guess we're the final frontier for open space in LA County. As for commuting down to LA, well its something to get used to...

Lancaster / Palmdale? Maybe uhh Oxnard and parts of Camarillo LOL

LOL There is always the new burb's of Riverside, Temecula and Perris! :runaway:

LA is expensive thats why so many people move to the Inland Empire in cities like Riverside and Fontana. its a little cheaper in the IE but for the people who work in LA you have to deal with traffic everyday driving to LA which is about 40 or 50 miles away from Fontana

Hmm Temecula..........Pechanga! :D

I live right next to Temecula. I live in a new housing community that was built by Richmond American Homes. Both Murrieta and Temecula are booming like crazy with new homes and new shopping areas. Both cites are largely a conservative Republican area.

I lived in Murrieta/Temecula for about 13 years.

[now downtown LA]

You would be amazed [as I am] of how much both cities have grown. I literally remember NOTHING there when I first got there. LOL.

I'm not kidding.... ;)

I lived in Murrieta/Temecula for about 13 years.

[now downtown LA]

You would be amazed [as I am] of how much both cities have grown. I literally remember NOTHING there when I first got there. LOL.

I'm not kidding.... ;)
Yeah, could you believe it!? Both Murrieta and Temecula has grown quite substantially. Its phenominal. Real Estate is booming here as well as the number of shopping areas and restaurants. It almost makes anyone forget that there is an economic slowdown here in Calfornia. The house where I'm currently living in, it was purchased last year for $360,000...now its worth over $500,000 and climbling. I can't believe how fast its growing in value. Real Estate is a very good investment in Calfornia, I wouldn't want to leave this state for anything else but to put my money in California real estate.

I recommend to purchase a home in California before its too late because prices go skyhigh every single month.

Yeah, the prices don't look like they are coming down anytimes soon. Now is also a good time to sell if you are moving out of state. If you just want to buy another house in Calif, even the simplest houses are getting very expensive.

Actually I've done a bit of searching and it looks like the only decent houses we can afford are in Moreno Valley. I've never been there before but I know it is past Riverside. What is it like over there?

I think Riverside/San Bernardino area is probably the place where 500,000 can get you a very big good looking house. Lots of developments in that area. The real estate bubble may go down though. Just not any time soon people are saying.

There is no way I would ever live in Palmdale, Riverside or any of those way out of the way places. I know L.A. is expensive but I would just leave the area completely.

Actually I've done a bit of searching and it looks like the only decent houses we can afford are in Moreno Valley. I've never been there before but I know it is past Riverside. What is it like over there?


crickets .... & more crickets :)

how much do u get an apartment in for example Compton for?

Anywhere from $700 to $2000 Im guessing.

savvysearch: u mean per month?

i dont know what it's like in U.S

savvysearch: u mean per month?

i dont know what it's like in U.S

Yeah, that's per month. Sounds reasonable. Also, depends on the appt.

Yeah, that's per month. Sounds reasonable. Also, depends on the appt.

Also, some areas of Compton are more desireable than others. They have "luxury" condos and low income condos.

http://media.mnginteractive.com/media/paper203/business-IVD-REDO_LOGO.gif

Median price in California nearing half a million
The Daily Bulletin ^ | Friday, September 24, 2004 - 3:42:02 PM PST | By MICHAEL RAPPAPORT, STAFF WRITER

Home prices in California are inexorably closing in on a dubious milestone. With the median price of an existing single-family detached home in the state at $474,370 in August, a 2.6 percent increase from July, a half-million dollar median may be only months away.

Two Inland Valley cities already have reached that level. The median in Norco - up 40 percent in the last year - hit $524,750 last month, and Claremont - up 35.9 percent - reached $512,000, in numbers released Friday by the California Association of Realtors and compiled by DataQuick Information Systems.

Chino Hills ($487,000), La Verne ($483,000) and Corona ($450,000) aren't far behind.

Indeed, even though the median in the overall Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area slipped slightly from July to August, the figure of $310,120 was still 35.7 percent higher than it was a year ago.

"It's crazy for real estate people," said Bill Velto, manager of Tarbell Realtors in Upland. "Orange County is taking a beating, things are slowing in Riverside County south to Temucula, but the area around here is still hot."

It's hot all the way up to the High Desert, where the median price of $236,890 is up 45.3 percent from a year ago. Both Adelanto (57.9 percent) and Barstow (52.4 percent) were among the top 10 cities in the state for price increases.

"That's where the market is right now for home builders," said Frank Williams, chief executive officer for the Baldy View Chapter of the Building Industry Association. "We literally cannot build houses fast enough to keep up with the demand."

Velto said more than 1,800 homes were sold during August alone in the High Desert.

"That's one of the things pushing the market around here too," he said. "This corridor - Upland, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga - is the gateway to the High Desert."

The biggest negative in the statewide report was an 8.5 percent decline in California sales over last August, although it came as no surprise to CAR officials.

"We anticipated a decrease in home sales last month compared to a year ago," said Ann Pettijohn, CAR president. "Last summer, mortgage interest rates were at their lowest levels in more than 30 years, and monthly existing home sales hit an annualized all-time high."

One sign of the slippage is that there are far more homes on the market. CAR's Unsold Inventory Index for August was 4.3 months, compared to just two months in August 2003. The UII reflects how long it would take to deplete the inventory if homes continue to sell at the current rate.

Despite the slowdown, statewide sales are strong. Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist for CAR, said year-to-date sales were up 5.2 percent over the same period in 2003.

"Residential real estate sales in California are on track to set a new annual record in 2004," she said.

With state prices climbing and local prices going up even faster, Velto said he didn't see any end in sight.

"Prices here are going to stop going up when people decide they do not want to live here any longer," he said. "Either that or they find a reason not to live here."

If the price of housing drops in CA the ripple effect will mean the whole country will take a hit.

People who live in houses that are way up in value tend to spend their money more freely, which keeps the economy moving. They don't worry about putting money away for retirement because they figure they'll just sell their expensive house and move to a cheaper location and use the remainder to live off in retirement. But when housing prices drop through the floor, which they inevitably do in any location, the free spending dries up. If this happens in as big a state as CA then it will affect the whole US economy.

Which has the cheapest housing now: Carson, Palmdale or Inland Empire? Is it already too late to move to the Inland Empire?

Moreno Valley is nothing but a bunch of housing and strip malls. Living in the Riverside area takes some getting used to and there are a lot of improvment project underway causing quite a bit of traffic. I would prefer to live in temecula as it is getting quite large, has a great hospital, shopping and a casino.

Man do I feel sorry for people graduating from school, at whatever level, in Southern California, because housing of any type is ridiculous. Why would you want to live in a desert climate, like most of the Greater LA area is in?

it sure duznt feel like a desert

Man do I feel sorry for people graduating from school, at whatever level, in Southern California, because housing of any type is ridiculous. Why would you want to live in a desert climate, like most of the Greater LA area is in?


LA IS NOT A DESERT!! most of the basin NEVER hits 95 degrees, let alone 100/ The coastal 15 miles rarely gets above 85, the valleys hit the low 90's in summer and thats it, the mountains dont go over 75 - 80 and the desert cities, which are far away from LA,(palmdale and Lancaster are 45 miles from DT LA) are in the 100/s in summer.

Which has the cheapest housing now: Carson, Palmdale or Inland Empire? Is it already too late to move to the Inland Empire?
Carson prices are crazy. For even the worst looking of houses they're going for a half million. Thats cause Carson is prime retail space, and we got the Home Depot Center.

Which has the cheapest housing now: Carson, Palmdale or Inland Empire? Is it already too late to move to the Inland Empire?

Yeah, It's too late to purchases house in Inland Empire, Lancaster and Palmdale but it used cheaper in 90's. I agree with CarsonCaliBrotha that house prices are crazy too. I have said that Inland Empire is cheaper than Lancaster, Palmdale and Carson.

Hwoaa... how do people live, are salaries like much higher in SoCal? How do people have any disposable income with their mortgages?

I could never move to SoCal, unless I become rich somehow...