The Delta Association of REALTORS® (DAR) would like to share some market data about one of the issues in today’s local real estate market.
As housing becomes more expensive, and the cost of living between expensive central areas and outlying counties expands, people begin to make decisions on the trade-offs between living farther out (and in larger houses) and commuting longer to their jobs. As housing supply has not caught up with demand in central suburbs and cities, home-seekers have started going further and further away to find affordable homes to purchase in the cities where they live.
This corroborated in C.A.R’s price and sales data, and our regional Housing Affordability Index, (which is a mix of income and price data).
| STATE/REGION/COUNTY | Q2-2017 | Q1-2017 | Q2-2016 | Median Home Price | Monthly Payment Including Taxes & Insurance | Minimum Qualifying Income | ||
| CA SFH (SAAR) | 29 | 32 | 31 | $553,260 | $2,770 | $110,890 | ||
| CA Condo/Townhomes | 38 | 40 | 40 | $443,400 | $2,220 | $88,870 | ||
| Los Angeles Metropolitan Area | 31 | 33 | 33 | $491,250 | $2,460 | $98,470 | ||
| Inland Empire | 43 | 43 | 46 | $342,050 | $1,710 | $68,560 | ||
| S.F. Bay Area | 21 | 25 | 23 | R | $895,000 | $4,480 | $179,390 | |
| S.F. Bay Area | ||||||||
| Alameda | 19 | 21 | 23 | R | $880,000 | $4,410 | $176,390 | |
| Contra Costa | 31 | 37 | 35 | R | $655,000 | $3,280 | $131,290 | |
| Marin | 17 | 18 | 18 | $1,302,500 | $6,530 | $261,070 | ||
| Napa | 25 | 24 | 26 | $683,000 | $3,420 | $136,900 | ||
| San Francisco | 12 | 13 | 13 | $1,450,000 | $7,270 | $290,630 | ||
| San Mateo | 14 | 15 | 14 | $1,469,000 | $7,360 | $294,440 | ||
| Santa Clara | 17 | 19 | 19 | $1,183,440 | $5,930 | $237,210 | ||
| Solano | 44 | 45 | 45 | $412,000 | $2,060 | $82,580 | ||
| Sonoma | 25 | 25 | 26 | $625,000 | $3,130 | $125,270 |
For examples, increasing prices in the Bay Area and Los Angeles have led to relatively stagnant levels of sales in more central city areas with large price gains, and increased sales and interest in homes in outer counties. This pattern is also seen in simply the sheer amount of vehicle miles traveled by Americans, which has shot past the previous high 2008 levels.
So much public data exists on people’s jobs, their commutes, and the places people live. By combining and visualizing this data in different ways, we can understand the patterns of lives, commutes, jobs and ultimately the places that people want to live in where they have to go to work.
DAR was established in 1949, then known as East Contra Costa County Board of REALTORS®. DAR is the area’s resource for real estate.
For more information on this piece, or any other real estate-related matter, please contact DAR at (925) 757-8283 or go to www.deltaAOR.com .
