Millennials struggle to afford houses in the Bay Area. Here's why

They are in the prime home-owning years of their lives, but millennials are struggling to actually buy houses. Scott Budman reports.

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[drflat]

Just millennials? I think EVERYONE is struggling to buy a house here.

[rosebud]

95% of the people I know who have been able to buy a home were only able to do so after living with family rent free for a substantial amount of time.

[bataremerson]

😂😂😂😂😂 the bay area started pricing everyone out in the 80's when they allowed foreign investment into the housing market. Don't be fooled by modern-day analysts.

[Blivot]

Ever since we bailed out the Banks back in 2008, housing prices have went through the roof-tops. The banks at that time foreclosed on many homes and re-sold them at double & triple the price. We bailed them out and the realtors made the banks tremendous profits. In San Jose, almost every house for sale now has a price tag starting at $1.5 million and climbing to the moon. Most people cannot afford the $200k down payment to start the paperwork.

[Mazxlol]

I used to buy these pickles for $2.99 in 2020, now they are $5.99. rent is insane, making it hard to save money. Housing princess exploded too. Older people have multiple homes renting it out, while younger generation cannot afford anything. I feel like things will only get worse.

[lyraserpentine]

"Tell me what they're waiting for." For Boomers to die and alleviate the wealth disparity AND for the housing bubble to burst, crash, & burn, so houses become affordable again so we can buy one.

[jealousofmypuddin]

The biggest factor is not enough supply, but also the fact we treat housing as a commodity.

[kyoung]

Not only mortgage, you have to pay property taxes, home insurance, or even HOAs as high as $200 a month for as long as you hold on to the property.

[waterym]

Old money baby boomers bought up the best places to live in the world. They will not let
these properties go. First come first serve..

[casienwhey]

Its not that home prices are increasing its that the value of the currency is falling - home price increases just reflects the dollars are worth less so it takes more of them to buy the same value they once did. This is what happens when the government prints trillions of currency out of thin air.

[lukefer]

Why would anyone want to buy a house in SF, home of the homeless?

[whigmalwhim]

Food for thought: The average cost of a house in West Virginia is 186k. if you're going from SF to Maine, you'll end up living like a king with the amount of saved money. California isn't going to get any better any time soon.

[seventail]

feel like news channels just keep this story on tape and whenever it is a slow day, they just take it out and replay it

[srikanthin]

Why are prices so high for a crime/drug infested area?

[timcisneros]

It's always been expensive in the Bay Area. My wife and I have rented for the past 40 years because we could never save enough for a down payment. We always rented in decent neighborhoods so our 2 boys could live in a safe place with decent schools which ALWAYS costs more. It's a "catch-22" but there's hope! We rented until the boys were grown and THEN we started looking outside of California. We bought our first property in 2016. A 1.5 acre of "raw" land in a northern Arizona Ponderosa forest. We are building a Timber Frame mountain lodge style cabin with our own hands from lumber we milled on our small sawmill. The greatest adventure of our lives AND our sons are helping us build. We had to go where they would let us build and permits were affordable. California is a lost cause, sorry. Absolutely no way we could do here what we're doing there. California is losing a lot of good hard working people. It's very, very sad. My advice is to get out as fast as you can.

[bitemyshinnymetalass]

Who needs a house when you can remodel your high top van into a luxury suite on wheels. 😅

[charlesfranklinhall]

We were sold a lie! My dad told me oh son…. You need to save 50% for a down payment! Buying a home today is outrageous for me! I’m going to be 42 and I don’t even think I will get to buy one!

[supportmytroups]

I bought a 700k house by 26, And I’m not that smart and I had no spouse funds. And I’ve paid 6 figures in taxes.

It’s really easy if you aren’t an idiot. I’ve been around many millennials and most of them are smoking weed and drinking and not caring at all about saving or working hard

[DeathNoteSwag]

Stop trying to buy homes in San Francisco, look at more affordable places

[mlss]

Waiting for their folks to pass and perhaps inherit