I certainly agree with that...I was born here and live here too. I am in a typical situation where I could not afford to buy the house I live in if I had to buy it today. My county had a 31% appreciation in the last 12 months, and over 20% the year before that. The population in the same time frame is up only 2-4%, and the average income is up only marginally. Bubblelicious. But that said, as this market gets more and more stupid, pretty soon just no one can afford to move at all. The market needs some first time buyers to be able to come in and buy homes so move up buyers can purchase those million dollar plus homes. As fewer and fewer first timers can enter the market, the market is sewing the seeds of its destruction. Also, as long as there are places like Vegas, Phoenix, Rapid City, and Tampa looking so attractive, there are potential buyers willing to live in those areas and that also siphons off buyers. Pretty soon, like all parabolic moves, it folds back upon itself. It will happen.
I own a small mortgage broker business in South Florida (West Palm Beach Area) and I talk to people from the cold expensive North East cashing out and making the move on a VERY regular basis. Many baby boomers are cashing out in NY and moving into a 2500 sq. ft house in a gated community, with a golf course, resort style pool, and just a few miles from beaches with warm turquoise water for less than 300k (250k if you take out the golf course). Lower prices are not the only reason people are moving to South Florida... where I live I am 40 miles by boat to the Bahamas', 1 hour from Miami, 2 1/2 hours from the keys. The summers can get hot but the rest of the year rivals any fair weather city in the US. The property values are a little higher than Tampa area (which is in West Central Florida) but you can still find a condo around 100k or a little less. In fact I was just looking at a condo for investment purposes in the PGA Grand National Resort for the mid 100's!
Don't be fooled into thinking that SoFla is cheap per se'. In Miami Beach, ft. Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Jupiter and Stewart, it's amazing how little $750,000 will get you. Newer construction or rehabbed homes on deepwater lots are 2m and up. What makes SoFla's appreciation so startling is the fact that this is an area with NO jobs! Yea there's prop firms and hedge funds and the occasional Latin American bank but their ain't no software guys bidding up Broward/Dade/PBC. It's all NY/NJ money coming for the climate and the amenities. I posted a "typical" Lauderdale intercoastal listing. http://realestate.yahoo.com/display...0278e936&cr=&cpcy=&fullnodeid=750007014&intl=
Not true. Go inland you still can find very nice homes at very affordable prices. For example, Moreno Valley which is about one hour east of LA -- http://www.hbg.com/hbgsystem/searchprocess.asp?area=riverside&city=Moreno+Valley&price=any This is why Riverside County has the hottest real estate in the entire country -- http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/11/pf/yourhome/housing4Q/index.htm?CNN=yes
Don't forget no income taxes. Your right about waterfront property being very expensive. The nicest parts of south florida rank among the most expensive. However outside of the areas that Donald Trump, the Kennedys, and the other old and new money billionaires have their homes, you can go 5 miles away from the water and still find nice houses (middle to upper middle class standard) for a reasonable price.
Moreno Valley is a pit IMHO. If I had to live that far away from the beach, you might as well go the extra miles to the desert areas. Moreno Valley is hot, smoggy and nasty from mid april to november. It also became a haven for foreclosed homes the last time the bubble burst in So Cal. The joke used to be moving to Corona was crazy, now the line in the sand has moved to Moreno Valley.
My sister-in-law owns a house in Norco right in that area. When we are getting close to her home, we can see a layer of yellow-brown haze like fog for miles around that area (some sort of industrial strength smog). Everything from Los Angeles apparently blows out that way and sits like a chemical stew. She actually lives in that crap day in and day out. Our lungs feel all tight and heavy after we spend a few hours there. I would never consider living in the "Inland Empire", as it is called. I would rather move out of state....Colorado, Iraq. Anywhere.
Damn this looks nice today, eh? Suppose to get up to 73 degrees today, and 78 tomorrow! http://sv.berkeley.edu/view/index.html
Actually Pabst, I use to think that to, but I heard Jeb Bush say on the Dennis Miller show the other night that Florida has created more net new jobs in the last year then all other 49 states combined!!!!!!!!! Very impressive. Just goes to show you what no personal income tax and corporate tax incentives can do to an economy.