Posted on 03/14/2024 5:45:56 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Some years back our second daughter and her husband were living in the finished basement of our old house in Colorado. They lived there while trying to save money for a down payment on a house of their own, but the arrival of their daughter and then their first son set that plan back, and then Colorado real estate prices just kept ratcheting further out of reach. So, after talking with our oldest daughter, they moved to eastern Iowa, found jobs, and now own a comfortable four-bedroom, two-bath house in the same small Iowa town where our oldest lives.
The sisters live only a few blocks from each other. Real estate prices are, obviously, much more affordable in their little Iowa town.
Our youngest two, with no kids among them (at least, not yet) still live in the Denver area. They are renting a nice townhome in a quiet, safe suburb of Denver, although they are only able to do so because our youngest lives with and shares expenses with her sister and brother-in-law. They are happy, they all get along well, and this way they can afford to live in a nice place, in a decent neighborhood. That's an accommodation the pricey Denver market has made necessary.
All over the United States, young people are facing these sorts of decisions. And in some places, young people are increasingly dealing with housing prices and inflation in general by living with their parents. It's revealing, though, to note, as a recent article informs us, which five states have the highest percentage of young people living with their parents - and which five have the lowest percentage. Let's take a look at those states, and some particulars about them.
Take a look at the places where young adults (aged 25–34) are living with Mom and Dad—and how much it costs to buy a home there.
1. Hawaii Percentage of young adults living with their families: 28.1%* Median home list price: $850,000
2. California Percentage of young adults living with their families: 26.2% Median home list price: $730,000
3. New Jersey Percentage of young adults living with their families: 25.9% Median home list price: $536,875
4. New York Percentage of young adults living with their families: 23.4% Median home list price: $652,520
5. New Hampshire Percentage of young adults living with their families: 22.9% Median home list price: $562,450
Now, let's look at the five with the lowest percentage:
1. North Dakota Percentage of young adults living with their families*: 4.6% Median home list price: $336,150
2. South Dakota Percentage of young adults living with their families: 9.1% Median home list price: $366,525
3. Iowa Percentage of young adults living with their families: 9.9% Median home list price: $294,750
4. Nebraska Percentage of young adults living with their families: 10.3% Median home list price: $350,000
5. Kansas Percentage of young adults living with their families: 10.9% Median home list price: $298,825
Now, just for s**ts and grins, let's look at the composition of these 10 state governments.
Isn't that interesting? With a few outliers, the most expensive states for housing, and therefore with the highest percentage of youths unable to afford their own homes, are run by Democrats - with the exception, for some reason, of New Hampshire. The least expensive states, with the lowest percentage of live-at-home youths, are mostly Republican states.
The trend here is pretty obvious. While a lot of our current inflationary issues are the result of federal meddling, a lot of things affecting housing costs, from property taxes to zoning restrictions, are local.
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Now, to be fair, there are other factors. The most expensive states are also the ones, except New Hampshire, that have major urban areas. New Hampshire is very close to at least one major urban area, Boston. Big cities are always more expensive than small towns and rural communities; there are, or were until recently, more and better-paying jobs in those areas. Now, in our post-COVID world, more jobs are going remote, which not only saves commute time for workers and office costs for businesses but enables young people in such jobs (like our two daughters who are freelance graphic designers) to live and work anywhere they choose.
But you can't count out the high-tax, restrictive environments commonly found in those blue states and blue cities.
This could end up being a positive for the country. Maybe the urbanization trend of the last century is starting to reverse itself. Maybe our population will decentralize some, and young people may end up seeing for themselves the values of self-reliance. Maybe this will lead to some revival of the traditional values of thrift, capability, and independence. It might not; I might have this completely wrong. But we can hope.
My son was married, bought a house and had a son by age 25.
In that order.
-SB
Top 5 are blue states, lowest 5 are red states.
Slackers vs. Productive.
WHAT a surprise! ;)
Big cities are always more expensive than small towns and rural communities;
____________________
Why should they be? I want to live in small, homey community!
And, big cities seem to be emptying themselves out!
Tom Sowell once observed, that in expensive California, even around Silicon Valley, there are huge areas of empty space.
WHY? Because the Guv. prohibits developing them!
Even Hawaii has actually quite a lot of empty space, which could be developed. But the NYMBY/Geeney crowd does not want that!
The restrictions on development is why real estate is so expensive in Dems states.
BTW, these restrictions allow development only by “connected” developers, those who know how to geese the skids of the youknowwho politicians.
Possible reasons NH is a desirable state to live in, plus other factors influencing high home prices........
No state income tax.
No state sales tax.
Limited government state.
Live free or die mentality.
Low crime.
Beautiful scenery.
Boston.
Massachusetts.
Limited property available in some desirable areas.
NH is not a blue state.
NH is republican controlled in all branches of state government, the governor, the house, the senate, and the executive council.
Married at 25, had our first kid at 26, bought our first house at 26. In that order. Not quite like your son, but not too far off, (Our pregnancy was a surprise, hence, the order of events.)
Several times in my life I had to just rent a room in a house. When life changes, you can either run home, or downsize for a while. Sometimes I even had to take the bus. Thanks to the glory of the free enterprise system, wherever I lived had running water and electricity.
Even after two nasty car accidents (nether my fault), I knew I would recover and move forward. You can be a victim, or not. If one plan does not work out, make another plan.
Rush Limbaugh talks often about the opportunities that exist if you would only consider moving. There are many States where one can start, or start again. Even with all the present insanity, we still live in the Greatest Nation on God’s Green Earth.
One of my friends is from NH, and she talks about it a lot. She is definitely a liberal, and by extension, a Democrat.
She’s a very nice lady, but she also thought she was the smartest person in the room…until she met me, and then she knew she met her match. I don’t back down when I know I’m right, and I’m right more than she is. Now she’s not as self-assured as she used to be.
Hawaii is a bit of a special case. It’s an island out in the middle of the Pacific ocean and totally dependent on virtually everything being shipped in. That being said, they have done EVERYTHING wrong ... Yes, because they are not very well educated, democrats, and with a large and vocal indigenous native population living in the fantasies of their past. You can’t migrate to a neighboring state. Hawaii HATES ALL business. Aloha means drive slow, barely work, and mooch. They love family (and the previous generation were hard workers and tight family units ... Not so with this generation) but have no compunction of expecting to be subsidized by them. The successful Hawaiians moved to the states, made their money and returned. Hawaii loves retirees and tourists, but believes money grows on trees. I live here. My husband is from here but moved to the states for his career. Now we are back. The relatives think we’re rich. We’re not. But everything is ... Relative here .... The old, working guard is dying. Their homes are falling apart. The kids won’t take care of them. Restaurants don’t open because the workers didn’t show up. In short, the dream is dying. They can’t move. There is a growing homeless population which they encourage. We need a change in attitude and government, but that won’t happen. Sad.
*** You can be a victim, or not. ***
I have a sister who loves to be a victim. It keeps her from having responsibility for her later choices in life. She can always point back to her abuse, so she never has to be responsible for any poor choices she made after that.
The way I look at it is that you can use your victimhood to keep you in one place, or you can use it as a launching point, and know that you never want to live like a victim again. Move on. It helps you recover.
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Good. Keep up the good work.
Not that democrat parents don't enable and make their children dependent or anything..
Nice - thanks for sharing.
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