>>it's clear that housing became less affordable between 1970 and 1980 - housing prices tripled but income only doubled - since then the ratio of housing to median family income has stayed roughly the same<<
cb, i'm glad you finally left the dark side and agree with me. it would have been a lot easier if you just agreed with me in the beginning.
i'm still not sure what you had in mind by saying i was wrong and you had data to prove it, though. especially in light of the absence of such data. very strange... we'll keep an eye on you, though ;-)
a couple comments. you use family income and include the impact of interest rates.
factor both those impacts out, the data is skewed in the direction of housing prices increasing faster than individual wages.
one also needs to look solely at marginal purchases, too. not data that represents all home buyers whether they bought their homes in 1973 and are on their last 2 years of mortgage payments. those don't count. it is the cost of housing NOW compared to a specific point in the past (think balance sheet, not income statement). a snapshot now, compared to a snapshot in the past. not a running average of the last 30 years. again, this is necessary and goes to show that housing prices at this point in time have risen more then individual wages. forcing a person to go to work to make housing more affordable is expensive.
as you say, though, there have been some improvements in housing (i'm not so sure as the walls in new homes are pretty darn thin compared to those built way back - i would break my hand punching my a wall in my parents house... i'd easily punch a hole through my wall... my home is probably about 60 years newer than my parents... the build quality of my parent's home is many times better than my home) to offset part of the previously mentioned items.
well, at least you agree with reality now, even if it was kicking and screaming all the way... ;-) we'll even forget about that nonexistent data you said you had (we won't tell... -snicker- -snicker- ;-)
it is also reassuring to know that my anecdotal evidence is spot on, too. ;-)
btw, admitting mistakes isn't that bad. really. i gaffed my comment on csco shareholders being down so badly it is comical. but now i learned that volume isn't adjusted for splits and, therefore, my calculation made al gore's math look crystal clear ;-) i was wrong. when i'm wrong, i freely admit it. i guess not everyone feels so free, though. |
