Poll: Housing

[legend of duty]

Just wanted to see what the housing situation is around the world. My situation was option 6 since no body wanted to lose anymore value in their estates, so they would rather just leave while they can. However, since I moved the opposite is true. People are willing to rent out, but not sell since the value is expected to double in some districts. (Near the beach). Its amazing what people will pay to live near crushed up rock,birds, and dark water.

EDIT
Based on the avg salary in your area or what you feel is a good estimate.

For the building part, could an avg family reasonably build something to meet their needs or would undeveloped land be too scarce or expensive

 

[Weaver]

Buying here is just out of my price range and no bank would give me a mortgage.
Even if they did, a house worth having would end up costing me more than renting.

Yes I know home ownership is an investment, but it's only a viable investment if you can actually afford it. Which I can't.

I'd say buying and renting are all possible but more and more crappy condos and townhouses are being built for ludicrous prices. I'd take a detached bungalow any day, personally.

 

[DoPo]

Erm, possible for whom exactly? Right now, it's impossible for me to buy something, but I'm happily renting. I am even moving to a new accomodation with a slightly higher rent than my current one[footnote]technically, the rent is about the same, but it doesn't have bills included. It is, however, possible to be cheaper if a friend of mine joins in but the situation is a bit uncertain at this moment.[/footnote] just next week and I don't think it's a big deal. I can't really buy a house but that doesn't mean that nobody can buy a house. In fact, I might be able to buy a house but it would be at some point in the future as there are...well, other matters to settle before I try it. It is, however, an option, just not right now for me.

And I'll be honest - I have no clue if building is possible or not - for me or other people. I'd hazard a guess that it's a "no", but I am absolutely not certain. The answer might as well be "potatoes" for all I know. Also, it might just be me that's impossible for - again, no clue what the situation is.

 

[StriderShinryu]

That's a pretty multifaceted question without what I'd imagine to be an easy answer for most people.

Where I live, housing itself isn't actually hard to come by at all. Rentals are commonly available, older homes are available and new lots for development are also available. The problem, however, is that the economy and job situation for those not already established is very poor. If you're lucky enough to already have a job that can support a house purchase, you can fairly easily find one, new or used. If you're not lucky enough to be established enough already, however, it's going to be very difficult for you to get there.

 

[cathou]

well, it's pretty much affordable, but depend. i live about 40 minutes from montreal. double that time if you need to go there at rush hours. it's a small town, very calm, but you have to commute. for a used house, that have 3 bedroom it's about 180k to 210k for twin houses, otherwise, it around 210k-250k. but that's average. the cheapeast house around here in sale today is around 75k, but it's a mobil house and you rent the land.

we bought our home, which was new (well almost, it was already builted, but nobody actually lived in it before we got it) for 228k. but our budget was actually higher because we have a good 35k to add to the sale price to build the basement, put grass, pool, asphalt in the driveway, etc.

now the trick here, is that you must put at least 5% cash. we had 30k in hands, and our morgage is 235k, so we had our 5%. the max lenght of the morgage is 25 years. to give you an idea, we have a family revenu of 54k per year, with one child. but that's after taxes...

yeah because it's fun to have free healthcare and everything, but we actually ear 89k, but after paying federal and provincial taxes, 3 or 4 different provincial programs, retirement plan, union, private health insurance (to cover for what the public system dont cover like dentist and glasses), job life insurance, etc. we have 54k actually deposit in our account...

so, it's affordable, but the first cash down can be hard to find. i would say that my income is just above average.

in montreal dirrectly, nothing Under 200k for something way smaller. and to rent, it's about 600 to 800$ for a 4 room appartement for a very average appartement.

 

[Xan Krieger]

I live in a rapidly expanding area, houses of pretty much any price range, plenty of room to build new ones. It's grown so much from when I moved here 14 years ago.

 

[L. Declis]

Ah, I will be moving to Shanghai in about three months; to get a little flat costs around half a million pounds and it just gets stupidly higher; I shall be renting for the foreseeable future. I intend to buy, but only after the Chinese housing bubble pops and houses don't cost a £1,000,000 for a decent place.

 

[ClockworkPenguin]

Buying in the UK is increasingly not doable until you're 40 or so. Unfortunately the culture is set up for home owners, so tenants rights are practically non existent. I'm renting at the moment, which is fine as a student, but would be horrible for someone trying to raise a family. Long term contracts aren't really a thing, so you don't really get stability needed to plan your life properly.

That's why most people my age end up moving back in with their parents after uni ends.

The problem is caused by too few new housing being built and the aforementioned lack of tenants rights. If the government sorted that out, they'd save a fortune on housing benefit.

 

[mitchell271]

Where I live, it's a bunch of students and retirees. You're either broke or living comfortably doing nothing all day. Most of southern Ontario has more diversity (Ottawa/Toronto have good populations) but the small towns are mostly the same as here.

 

[Atrocious Joystick]

We have whole DDR thing going on were I live. I think the average wait for a rental apartment is about 10 years in my city. You can move to other places in the country where housing is more available but then you´re pretty much fucked when it comes to getting a job. If you already have a place, your parents are rich or you´re an idiot it is possible to buy (well, take out a loan in order to buy) and hunker in anticipation of the inevitable bursting of this here housing bubble.

 

[DanielBrown]

They build new buildings constantly in Stockholm, but it's all "bostadsrätter"(can't find an English word, It's when you have to buy the entire place to own, not rent). They can't get that shit sold, because no one can afford it and no one wants it, however they keep building them.
In one area close to me they just stopped building because they couldn't get it sold. It's been dead for over two years except for one family who had just bought one of the houses when they gave up, so they live there alone. In other areas they offer 24 months of free rent for buying it and still can't get it sold.

So yeah, it's pretty bad. Most youths are forced to get a sublease on an apartment to be able to move out. Even the rent here is ridiculous.

 

[lacktheknack]

'Round here, renting and building new is possible, but buying an existing house will break you.

Such are the cold realities of ludicrous suburban sprawl.

 

[Verlander]

I live in Central London. Your puny American prices are nothing compared to our extortion, I laugh at your mortgages

 

[Muspelheim]

They build new buildings constantly in Stockholm, but it's all "bostadsrätter"(can't find an English word, It's when you have to buy the entire place to own, not rent). They can't get that shit sold, because no one can afford it and no one wants it, however they keep building them.
In one area close to me they just stopped building because they couldn't get it sold. It's been dead for over two years except for one family who had just bought one of the houses when they gave up, so they live there alone. In other areas they offer 24 months of free rent for buying it and still can't get it sold.

So yeah, it's pretty bad. Most youths are forced to get a sublease on an apartment to be able to move out. Even the rent here is ridiculous.

I can report that Gothenburg is in exactly the same housing situation.

In brief, no one wants to build cheap, simple flat blocks and then rent out the apartments to the low income demographics. They would much rather build up-market flats and housing that they can then sell, to the more established ages and classes.

Problem is, there are plenty of up-market housing, and not enough people to fill them, while the people who will (or would) become the sort of people that will fill them can't find housing. Which will not help in making them the sort of people that would afford up-market housing.

The Million Programme blocks, the ambitious project to provide housing for one million people (impressive when you've only got eight million citizens) completed in the 1970's, meanwhile, has been left to rot. Income gaps, the recessions and rather poorly done immigration integration has turned those suburbs rather unpleasant, in some cases. The only attention they recieve beyond emergency repairs and pest extermination, is a few succeeded attempts at gentrification here and there. It's not at all as chaotic as elsewhere, but something must be done before it gets worse.

Suggestions of maybe renovating and modernising the Million Programme blocks or having another go at the programme immediately makes you a communist. Meanwhile, the ambitious up-market housing projects tend to end up less profitable and desirable than expected, when many of them remains empty. And mould and stains will grow all over the buildings if you are stupid enough to build a flat, open and light building intended for southern Spain in Scandinavia. Where there are winters. Architect twats...

Yes, it does wind me up a bit, I do beg your pardon.

Still, if you have generous standards, have a steady income, maybe made a few connections and is preferably white (in name and culture, at least), there is always something, at least. But really, there is no reason why it should be like this.

 

[Do4600]

I live in Wisconsin, it's a rent trap.

Its amazing what people will pay to live near crushed up rock, birds, and dark water.

Could be worse, in Miami it's crushed up rocks, crushed up birds, salt water and dead homeless people, true story.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

I live in Central London. Your puny American prices are nothing compared to our extortion, I laugh at your mortgages

This. A friend of mine growing up in North London lived in a 4 bedroom town house with a small garden. It's worth well over a million pounds (1.66M USD). I lived 10 minutes away in a rented 2 bedroom flat which would be worth £3-400000 on the market.

As long as I live in London, I will rent.

EDIT: My friend lived in a house pretty similar in size to this one, but it was at the end of the terrace on the next road across for an idea of the prices. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-29417943.html

 

[loc978]

Living about 30 miles out from the nearest city in western Oregon, on the fringes of a temperate rainforest.

I suppose my area falls somewhere between a shortage and renters only... I inherited the place I'm in (along with a mid-sized debt), my grandfather pioneered the land in the 50s (and then refused to pay property taxes for a long time after the 80s). Every place around here (closest neighbors are about a mile away) has been in whatever family owns it for decades, each plot being a minimum of 5 acres (he biggest property in the area being something along the lines of 300 acres, I think. Mine's 5)... though sometimes people take on renters.

Not certain where to place my vote, or if you're just looking for statistics among city dwellers.

 

[Artina89]

It depends on the area code really. Where I live now, it is possible to rent, but not to buy. I am currently sharing with three other people, but where my parents live, it is easier to buy, but I don't know why you would buy a house where my parents live as most of the houses have subsidence of varying degrees and the houses don't seem to be well built.