DC Area Most Affordable Among 25 Other Big Cities

jam5 · October 24th, 2012, 01:12 AM

D.C. metro area most affordable, study says

October 22, 2012 - 05:14 pm

It may be hard to believe, but a new study calls the D.C. metro area the most affordable among 25 big cities.

To be clear, the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology study focuses on moderate income homeowners or those "earning between 50 and 100 percent of each metro area’s median income."

In the D.C. area, median income ranges from $44,531 to $89,063, the study reports. The organization says using this data allowed them to understand local expenses in context with local earnings.

Rounding out the top five were Philadelphia, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Boston, respectively.

Infoman · October 24th, 2012, 02:46 AM

I don't care what any statistics, magazine, etc says; DC is one of the nations top five most expensive cities to live in. Its nowhere near affordable and most residents (such as myself) can tell you this. I see you live in NoVa and its expensive to live there as well but after two months of living directly inside DC's city-limits and paying for rent with a room-mate I see this is a extremely expensive place to live. ($800 monthly for my half alone)

k25150 · October 24th, 2012, 03:03 AM

Seems like another politically motivated study. I wonder how much we all paid for that. I could have saved us all the few mil it cost. Take a look at milk prices, gas prices, home prices and rent prices. Compare with all 25 cities. There is your answer. DC wouldn't be number 1 most affordable. Ridiculous.

PeterSmith · October 24th, 2012, 01:28 PM

You probably didn’t pay very much for that study. CNT is a private think tank that has been around for more than 30 years. It might get some public funds like most other organizations, but it also gets its money from private donors. Also, the study wasn’t conducted specifically to determine that DC was more affordable than other metros; CNT has maintained the H+T Affordability Index for many years.

The HTA Index assesses affordability based on the total cost of housing and transportation expenses as a percentage of metropolitan median income. Most other affordability measurements only include housing costs, and the deficiencies of this method should be obvious to anyone. You’re right though that is would be even more comprehensive if we could include the costs of staple goods, but so far, that hasn’t been achieved (I think you miss the point by citing gas prices, though; the reason for DC's alleged affordability is because it is not held directly hostage to rising gas prices).

It is pretty easy to see why the affordability gap is not so great once you include transportation costs. AAA estimates the average annual cost of car ownership to be around $9,000. Conversely, a person living in DC who does not own a car probably spends about $1,000 annually on transportation (I lead a car-free lifestyle in Baltimore; my annual transportation costs are $768, which is the cost of twelve monthly MTA passes. My employer subsidizes $720 of that, though).

Use as an example a family of four – two parents and two kids. The cost of two cars over the life of a 30-year mortgage is $540,000, unadjusted for inflation. The transportation costs for a family of four without a car in DC over the same timeframe would be around $120,000 ($1000 x 4 x 30). That is a difference of $420,000 over thirty years. Of course, this analysis does not factor in interest rates, but the point is still a strong one.

Another factor is that since the measurement is based on metropolitan median income, DC’s higher wages help it out. The cities that the study named Least Affordable – Miami, Riverside, Tampa – are all areas of the country with depressed wages.

jcastro805 · October 25th, 2012, 02:54 PM

As a military service member, I have lived in several large metro areas over the last few years, and have noticed the way the dollar seems to stretch and shrink in the different areas. We recently moved to Fort Belvoir/Alexandria, and immediately noticed two things: 1. we will be saving a lot of money on transportation costs due to the strength of the public transportation system here, and 2. We had to live in base housing due to the lack of affordable housing in the area.

All things considered, I believe that the cost-of-living in the area, at least NOVA, is more affordable than some areas (such as San Diego, which we moved here from). However, even considering the cheap transportation, it is definitely more expensive than metros with cheap housing and relatively strong economic markets, such as the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex or San Antonio.

Of course, this is just my wallet's opinion, and doesn't take into account non-economic factors such as the world-class weather and beaches of San Diego or the world-class museums and culture of the District.

Ty Doggie · October 30th, 2012, 06:47 PM

LIES! LIES! LIES

DC is getting built up and gentrified that it's too much like TOO MUCH in trying to live there.

Coldspring · October 31st, 2012, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ty Doggie

LIES! LIES! LIES

DC is getting built up and gentrified that it's too much like TOO MUCH in trying to live there.

yep.. soon it will be only Washington.. and no more DC.Washington was once only the tourist areas and government complexes.. soon it will be the entire District....

I cant believe that Baltimore and Philly are just as affordable... or did I misread this...because that cant be true...

October 24th, 2012, 01:12 AM	#1
jam5 Registered User Join Date: May 2007 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 470 Likes (Received): 3	DC Area Most Affordable Among 25 Other Big Cities D.C. metro area most affordable, study says October 22, 2012 - 05:14 pm It may be hard to believe, but a new study calls the D.C. metro area the most affordable among 25 big cities. To be clear, the Center for Housing Policy and the Center for Neighborhood Technology study focuses on moderate income homeowners or those "earning between 50 and 100 percent of each metro area’s median income." In the D.C. area, median income ranges from $44,531 to $89,063, the study reports. The organization says using this data allowed them to understand local expenses in context with local earnings. Rounding out the top five were Philadelphia, Baltimore, Minneapolis and Boston, respectively.

October 24th, 2012, 02:46 AM	#2
Infoman /BMOREBOY Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Greenville Posts: 2,956 Likes (Received): 5	I don't care what any statistics, magazine, etc says; DC is one of the nations top five most expensive cities to live in. Its nowhere near affordable and most residents (such as myself) can tell you this. I see you live in NoVa and its expensive to live there as well but after two months of living directly inside DC's city-limits and paying for rent with a room-mate I see this is a extremely expensive place to live. ($800 monthly for my half alone) __________________ -Infoman/BMOREBOY Last edited by Infoman; October 24th, 2012 at 06:51 AM.

October 24th, 2012, 01:28 PM	#4
PeterSmith Registered User Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Miami/Baltimore Posts: 4,162 Likes (Received): 10	You probably didn’t pay very much for that study. CNT is a private think tank that has been around for more than 30 years. It might get some public funds like most other organizations, but it also gets its money from private donors. Also, the study wasn’t conducted specifically to determine that DC was more affordable than other metros; CNT has maintained the H+T Affordability Index for many years. The HTA Index assesses affordability based on the total cost of housing and transportation expenses as a percentage of metropolitan median income. Most other affordability measurements only include housing costs, and the deficiencies of this method should be obvious to anyone. You’re right though that is would be even more comprehensive if we could include the costs of staple goods, but so far, that hasn’t been achieved (I think you miss the point by citing gas prices, though; the reason for DC's alleged affordability is because it is not held directly hostage to rising gas prices). It is pretty easy to see why the affordability gap is not so great once you include transportation costs. AAA estimates the average annual cost of car ownership to be around $9,000. Conversely, a person living in DC who does not own a car probably spends about $1,000 annually on transportation (I lead a car-free lifestyle in Baltimore; my annual transportation costs are $768, which is the cost of twelve monthly MTA passes. My employer subsidizes $720 of that, though). Use as an example a family of four – two parents and two kids. The cost of two cars over the life of a 30-year mortgage is $540,000, unadjusted for inflation. The transportation costs for a family of four without a car in DC over the same timeframe would be around $120,000 ($1000 x 4 x 30). That is a difference of $420,000 over thirty years. Of course, this analysis does not factor in interest rates, but the point is still a strong one. Another factor is that since the measurement is based on metropolitan median income, DC’s higher wages help it out. The cities that the study named Least Affordable – Miami, Riverside, Tampa – are all areas of the country with depressed wages. Last edited by PeterSmith; October 24th, 2012 at 01:35 PM.

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October 24th, 2012, 03:03 AM	#3
k25150 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Baltimore Posts: 1,632 Likes (Received): 21	Seems like another politically motivated study. I wonder how much we all paid for that. I could have saved us all the few mil it cost. Take a look at milk prices, gas prices, home prices and rent prices. Compare with all 25 cities. There is your answer. DC wouldn't be number 1 most affordable. Ridiculous.

October 25th, 2012, 02:54 PM	#5
jcastro805 Sky's the Limit Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Alexandria, VA via SoCal via Guam via Texas Posts: 295 Likes (Received): 11	As a military service member, I have lived in several large metro areas over the last few years, and have noticed the way the dollar seems to stretch and shrink in the different areas. We recently moved to Fort Belvoir/Alexandria, and immediately noticed two things: 1. we will be saving a lot of money on transportation costs due to the strength of the public transportation system here, and 2. We had to live in base housing due to the lack of affordable housing in the area. All things considered, I believe that the cost-of-living in the area, at least NOVA, is more affordable than some areas (such as San Diego, which we moved here from). However, even considering the cheap transportation, it is definitely more expensive than metros with cheap housing and relatively strong economic markets, such as the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex or San Antonio. Of course, this is just my wallet's opinion, and doesn't take into account non-economic factors such as the world-class weather and beaches of San Diego or the world-class museums and culture of the District.

October 30th, 2012, 06:47 PM	#6
Ty Doggie Brotha Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 400 Likes (Received): 2	LIES! LIES! LIES DC is getting built up and gentrified that it's too much like TOO MUCH in trying to live there.