Poll: Could You Afford to Buy the Home You Live in Now?

Affordability on the Wane.

It may be hard to fathom this, but with a median sales price of $2,650,000, San Carlos is considered to be one of the more “affordable” cities along the prime mid-Peninsula area. Indeed, comparable cities like Burlingame and Menlo Park boast far higher median prices ($3,000,000 and $3,300,000, respectively) than San Carlos, and our adjacent neighbors in Redwood City and Belmont are only slightly less expensive.

But the proof is in the data. You probably recognize this chart from the report I posted last week regarding the decrease in sales, and it shows the appreciation in home prices in San Carlos since 2021.

The key to maintaining the same level of affordability is that wages must increase at roughly the same rate as housing. However, according to the nationwide data below (and just common sense), it's clear that the cost of housing is increasing at a much faster rate than are the incomes of the homeowners.

The data above shows the housing-wage gap for the entire nation, and probably understates what is happening in San Carlos and the better part of the Peninsula. While there are some people who have successfully climbed the income ladder, I think it's a fair bet to say that most have not seen their incomes increase by 302% over this period of time.

The Poll.

So the question I'm posing today is: Could you afford to buy the home that you are living in today? Bear in mind that your property tax would adjust to roughly 1.25% of the new purchase price of your home. Also, unless you're paying cash, you're looking at a loan of around 6% to fund the purchase.

Please be assured that your response is totally anonymous! Thanks for participating, and as always, feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.