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I was shocked to realize Saint Augustine's median home price is $407,400, while Miami Beach is $480,000 (using Redfin market insights). I would have expected both to be $1m+, similar to Coronado or Santa Barbara. Sarasota at $430,000 is also far cheaper than expected (would have guessed closer to $600-700k).
Conversely, Siesta Key's median is $925,000, and Palm Beach is $2,208,000 so it's not like every city in Florida is cheap. Key West is also $1,075,000 average, so it's not a "climate change" issue that's causing Miami Beach and Saint Augustine to be so cheap.
What other cities are you puzzled by their cheapness?
A lot of Chicago suburbs. You have good schools, walkable town centers with commuter rail, and access to one of the nation's biggest white-collar job markets. I know Illinois' budget crisis is having an effect here, but it's still surprising how (relatively) affordable some of the suburbs are --- considering that the demographics these people appeal to (i.e. families) aren't traditionally that interested in mountains, celebrities, or the "cool" factor of the coasts anyway.
A few streetviews of some such towns (dropped in random points, not cherry-picking), along with median home prices:
A lot of Chicago suburbs. You have good schools, walkable town centers with commuter rail, and access to one of the nation's biggest white-collar job markets. I know Illinois' budget crisis is having an effect here, but it's still surprising how (relatively) affordable some of the suburbs are --- considering that the demographics these people appeal to (i.e. families) aren't traditionally that interested in mountains, celebrities, or the "cool" factor of the coasts anyway.
A few streetviews of some such towns (dropped in random points, not cherry-picking), along with median home prices:
Yeah, I have a colleague who worked in Chicago for ten years. He said even though the immediate Chicago suburbs to the north are nice, he'd never live in Cook County and considered it a terrible investment. It would be interesting to see the housing premium of living in suburbs just over the County Line to see if there is some 'Cook County' penalty.
He wound up buying in DuPage (I think Naperville?), which he said was very well run, but even that has a median home price of $334,000, which I agree is an absolute steal (then again, I know little about the area).
Lake County is $296,000, McHenry County is $270,000, Will County is $287,000. Very cheap for being in a near supercity. Personally, I'd go for Oak Park. $388,000 (-5.4% Y-O-Y) with extremely famous architecture and a unique history. Have never visited, but looks very nice.
A lot of Chicago suburbs. You have good schools, walkable town centers with commuter rail, and access to one of the nation's biggest white-collar job markets. I know Illinois' budget crisis is having an effect here, but it's still surprising how (relatively) affordable some of the suburbs are --- considering that the demographics these people appeal to (i.e. families) aren't traditionally that interested in mountains, celebrities, or the "cool" factor of the coasts anyway.
A few streetviews of some such towns (dropped in random points, not cherry-picking), along with median home prices:
Philadelphia and Minneapolis are still relatively affordable. Twenty years ago I would say the Texas major cities, although I realize they don't have the tourism appeal. I wouldn't call any of the places I find desirable today extremely cheap.
I was shocked to realize Saint Augustine's median home price is $407,400, while Miami Beach is $480,000 (using Redfin market insights). I would have expected both to be $1m+, similar to Coronado or Santa Barbara. Sarasota at $430,000 is also far cheaper than expected (would have guessed closer to $600-700k).
Conversely, Siesta Key's median is $925,000, and Palm Beach is $2,208,000 so it's not like every city in Florida is cheap. Key West is also $1,075,000 average, so it's not a "climate change" issue that's causing Miami Beach and Saint Augustine to be so cheap.
What other cities are you puzzled by their cheapness?
For large metros...Chicago and Houston both feel undervalued. I could have never predicted the current prices difference between the big Texas metros. I still don't fully understand it.
For a small metro...Champaign-Urbana has always surprised me. Vibrant downtowns. Home to a flagship university, clean, safe, and good wages. Less than a two hour drive from Chicago. Nice homes in excellent neighborhoods are less than $200k. Even with the higher RE tax in Illinois, the taxes on a $200k home probably aren't too bad. Even by Midwestern standards, Chambana is undervalued.
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