On Sun, 04 Jun 2000, Amara Graps wrote:
>
> But I wasn't kidding about the Bay area house prices.
>
> My sister sent me a small local newspaper from my old town La Honda
> last weekend and WOW. The house prices have at least doubled
> in the last two years (on the way to tripling it looks like).
Per the newspaper last week, the median house price in Santa Clara county
(the heart of Silicon Valley proper) is now $577k. That is USD$ for any
who may have doubts.
That is an awful lot to pay for a very undistinguished house in very
undistinguished neighborhoods; you certainly wouldn't think it was that
expensive merely by looking at it. A run-down beater of a house in the
worst neighborhoods the place has to offer will set you back $300k. I
imagine a cardboard box under a bridge is pushing $50k. For what you get,
Santa Clara county is supposed to have the most expensive houses to be
found in the U.S., even when you take into account all the usual suspects
such as Beverly Hills, Carmel, etc.
Of course, that is the price you pay when local economics take a turn for
the weird. The Santa Clara county economy has a higher capitalized value
than most European countries (a fact I liked to use to annoy the goons
from France Telecom Corporate when they got uppity). Many people in these
parts can still afford to buy these houses, albeit marginally.
-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Thu Jul 27 2000 - 14:12:28 MDT