I retired 22 years ago at 45 and financed this by moving out of hot markets to the next hot market. Started in San Jose CA. Sold in 2002 as prices seemed really good to me. Took my profit and bought new in Phoenix way out in the suburbs. Sold in 6 months for $60k net profit. Bought close to central. 2008 crash and bought a 2nd in north central because so cheap and rented the other. Sold the rental when market recovered. The $200k buy is now worth $600k. Now planning to sell and move to SE Asia where a 3/2 house on a rocky beach rents for $400-600/mo. "Pricing everyone out" is only an issue for the tiny number of people who want the best location and top finishes but don't have the resources for those desires. Increasing values are great for all the people who bought in and spend decades investing time and cash improving the city so it now becomes very desirable.
Can't be more pissed. We moved from the DC area to get away from this and I'll be damned if it didn't find us again. Love the state, love the area, love the weather but we had a beautiful house on almost a 1/2 acre in a great neighborhood back east which was intended to be our final stop. This new build cost almost the same as the VA house but at half the quality and on 1/8 of an acre. I could understand if we at least had a view of the mountains but instead our only view is into the neighbor's kitchen in back of us. Literally.
Real Estate is an absolute joke right now. I've seen $500k homes that probably cost $200k to build including labor. They're all over the country. Prices are ridiculously high. For some sheetrock, young timber 2x4s, poured junk concrete, shingles and some insulation. Labor is the majority of the cost. This is why (illegal) immigration is so important to the rich people who run the country. They need to keep the demand high so all their real estate investments keep going up up up! If people got wise and said "y'know what, I'm just going to stick it out with my family for a few more years" the entire system would collapse. Banks would go under from lack of loans. Housing prices would tank. Things would actually become affordable again without anxiety or worry about losing a job + home.
