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8 of 10 Worst U.S. Real Estate Markets Are in California

nbcbayarea.com — According to recent statistics, eight of the 10 worst markets for buying a home in the U.S. are in the Golden State.

Who dugg this? Made popular Dec 28, 2008

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  • bixby1, on 12/27/2008, -1/+61The house I rent in Cali was once valued near a million dollars. What bothered me about that is that I live in a total ***** hole.
  • alex7575, on 12/28/2008, -1/+48I bought my first home about 9 yrs ago for about $350K (this is even before the whole madness started). And I was so excited I called my cousin in Michigan to tell him about it (he had bought his first home a bit before me). He was like, "WTF $350K? How many ACRES did you get?", I had to pause for a second, "I dunno, what's 5,000 sqft in acres?", I had to call him back he wouldn't stop laughing and calling me an idiot....
  • inactive, on 12/28/2008, -5/+46Yeah, but you live in GEORGIA.
  • doublefelix, on 12/28/2008, -1/+41Let me know when San Francisco is affordable.
  • Stuffburger, on 12/28/2008, -2/+418 out of 10 of just about anything is in California.
  • Travelpilot, on 12/28/2008, -3/+35Almost time to start buying.
  • officecamel, on 12/28/2008, -5/+36Not to be a dick or anything...but this story made me giggle.

    All of those idiots were in such a rush to keep up with all their friends...which drove the house prices up. They are now paying for it. They did it to themselves.

    P.S. Deflation is a bitch.
  • Spuy767, on 12/28/2008, -3/+34Friend lives in 970 ft^2 bungalow, $600,000. I live in 2800 ft^2 victorian, $192,000. Difference being that he lives in California, and I live in Georgia.
  • alex7575, on 12/28/2008, -0/+27Here in CA, for 200K you can get a few sqft of land and a shovel, so you can dig a hole you can live in...
  • codyman, on 12/28/2008, -3/+30I live in socal... bought this house in 1988 brand new for 195k (2,800 sqft), went up to a million, now its dropped down to 6's and 7's range... still not complaining as I only paid 195k and thanks to prop 13, I am paying taxes on a 195k house not 700k one verses places like Jersey where you first A) live in Jersey then B) have to pay property taxes like no other to just live in Jersey? wtf, jokes on them
  • lead2thehead, on 12/28/2008, -1/+27Sooo glad I didn't jump on that bandwagon. Back in 2005, my wife nagged me RELENTLESSLY to buy a new house. "What's the matter with you?... we can afford it... housing prices NEVER go down... stop being so cheap!... it's a good investment." Now there are three abandoned houses on our street and we're the only family in the neighborhood with an affordable mortgage.
  • tacojohn, on 12/28/2008, -0/+25Ok— grew up in Upper Michigan, moved to Arizona, now live in California (San Jose).

    Michigan isn't a total ***** hole, and it's cheap cheap cheap (if you like the outdoors check it out). Arizona is nice during the winter and cheap as hell for "luxury" living. California is expensive, beautiful, the "affordable" housing is complete crap, but the landscape, ocean, and job market are awesome.

    Everywhere has it's advantages.
  • e2superman, on 12/28/2008, -0/+22Then again we have nearly 40 million people in California. The US is about 300 million so that is a big number in terms of %.
  • TwistyMcFister, on 12/28/2008, -0/+20I have been to all 50 states and live in California. The rest of the country is great to visit, but California is where I will always live.

    side note: people from California don't call it Cali, only retards call it Cali
  • SatoriSeeker, on 12/28/2008, -1/+20I moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from a much less expensive part of the country (Minnesota) and I could never believe what they wanted for houses out here. When the bubble happened I just stood back in awe as people sank 400-600k into a tiny old starter homes. The Wells Fargo bank down the street even had huge banners up outside saying "Reverse Mortgages!" all the way until the middle of 08, I took a few pictures of it for posterity. When I get old and the next generation is reading about the Greater Depression in their text books I'll be able to show them those pictures, and probably an episode or two of "Flip This House" from HGTV.
  • MacroDaemon, on 12/28/2008, -3/+19How is oriental borderline offensive?
  • brandita, on 12/28/2008, -0/+16What Goes Up Must Come Down.
  • wbrns, on 12/28/2008, -1/+16Not surprising to see Florida in the list at least once.
  • NiftyG, on 12/28/2008, -1/+16I bought my house in Los Angeles in 1997, right before the boom. My house had quadrupled in value by last year, so the reported 25% drop means it only tripled. I still have a pretty cheap mortgage, and cheap property taxes.

    It was very tempting to trade up every few years as the market rose, but I didn't because I bought a home, not a real estate portfolio. I wanted a stable place for my kids to grow up and go to school. If more people had done similarly and stayed put instead of being greedy, the bubble would have been much gentler. Sad that greed can cause so much grief.




  • lead2thehead, on 12/28/2008, -2/+16I couldn't help it. She was hot.
  • e2superman, on 12/28/2008, -1/+14I have. St Louis and Kansas City. I also lived in Platt city (North of Kansas City MS) for a while.

    Given I have seen both, Cali is much nicer -- sorry.
  • nedzeve, on 12/28/2008, -1/+13Sounds like you married a hag.
  • Pinkertinkle, on 12/28/2008, -2/+14Well the prices went up in Cali the most, makes sense they should take a bigger hit.
  • inactive, on 12/28/2008, -2/+13I perused craigslist real estate for sale in California. the homes are STILL way over priced.
  • mehan, on 12/28/2008, -1/+12Yea, but you live in Houston...
  • ShadowofAres, on 12/28/2008, -4/+15Everything in California is overvalued.

    Where I am, a quarter million can get you a three-story house on an acre plot.
  • Latentk, on 12/28/2008, -3/+13Your problem with that whole statement breezie was you chose San Diego of all cities. From what I can understand, most of your distress is from illegals, and you picked one hell of a immigration heavy town. Try more then one location before hastily generalizing the state.
  • brandita, on 12/28/2008, -0/+10I feel bad for those that bought in 2004/2005.
  • devzer0, on 12/28/2008, -1/+11Jealousy is not hatred. You are jealous. Oh, and you pay more in California because you get more than anywhere else (beauty, culture, variety, wealth). You get more land in other states because that's all they have to give. What, too much money for this house? Here, take some of this ugly land along with it.
  • breezie3, on 12/28/2008, -9/+19I've lived in San Diego for a year now after living in Minnesota my whole life, and I can honestly say that California is the craphole. The traffic is terrible, the second it rains here everyone forgets how to drive. Not to mention the fact that most of the bad drivers on the road are illegals with no insurance and if they hit you you're pretty much screwed. Has culture? Sure, if you mean people that don't even respect the country they live in enough to learn it's language and customs. If I hear one more person at work say to me, "Espeake Spani?" I'm going to scream. Even when I speak Spanish to them (I took it for four years in school) they pretend they don't understand and go find a real Mexican to help them. Variety, ok, there's plenty to do, but everything is so far apart and there's so many people everywhere that by the time you drive to your destination, you're so stressed from the awful traffic on the drive there that you don't even want to do it anymore. And mild weather? California has warm, and rainy. Minnesota has actual seasons. We have a gorgeous spring and fall, the summers are hot, perfect for going to the lake and going swimming or fishing, and we have actual winters, which means snowmobiling, ice skating, and plenty of other things that California can't even come close to. And California is rich? Please. Sure there are some wealthy people, but from what I've seen, the people here spend all of their money buying material things to feel better about themselves. Women get those awful fake dragon nails put on every week (ladies, those things are disgusting. I swear, you do not look attractive with three-inch-long claws, you can barely function), people drive expensive cars that guzzle gas, and buy expensive houses in new crappy developments where they don't even get a backyard. I really expected more from the state that was supposedly "green." I've seen more people in gas-guzzling status symbol suv's than anything else on the road here. And the people here have got to be the most arrogant, self-entitled, ignorant jerks that I have ever been around, yet they think that because they live in California that they are cultured and better than everyone else from those "craphole states." I'm actually moving back home to Minnesota in a week, and I really can't wait to be out of this craphole called California.
  • NiftyG, on 12/28/2008, -0/+9And even with the downturn, your $350K house is still worth two or three times as much. You could sell it and buy half of Detroit.
  • wampalord, on 12/28/2008, -0/+9This is why Bluth Company was listed as a triple sell. But it might go as high as a "don't buy".

    DON'T BUY BLUTH!
  • Bloodwine, on 12/28/2008, -8/+17Can't say anything about California, because all they'll say is, "We live in California, which is definitely better than where you live!!", as their comeback.
  • whorunbartertwn, on 12/28/2008, -1/+10Why on earth would you hate such a large diverse state?

    I can maybe see saying you hate people in Malibu or something but something so abstract as a state? Makes no sense.
  • BeShirtHappy, on 12/28/2008, -3/+12Where I live in Knoxville, the housing market hasn't been effected too much; but it is a buyers market right now.
  • devzer0, on 12/28/2008, -5/+13The difference between Minnesota and the bay area being that Minnesota is ugly, full of people who'd rather be inside all day than dealing with the humidity and mosquitos (what you call "summer") and the ice and sleet (what you call "the rest of the year"). In the bay area, life is more expensive because its quality is much higher. It's beautiful, the whole state is your backyard, there's a huge variety of things you can do, and the food is good.
  • alex7575, on 12/28/2008, -4/+12I've been to Georgia once, and besides the fact that people would stare at me (I'm Asian, and I didn't feel like it was a racist thing, but they seemed to have really never seen an "Oriental" person before, I was on a biz trip to some little town in GA), people were uncomfortably nice, as in they'll pass by me on the streets and say "good morning" to strangers (me). In LA if a stranger said "good morning" to me, I'll either think "how do you spot a tourist?" or "I'll double check my wallet in my pocket."
  • e2superman, on 12/28/2008, -6/+14Then again we live in LA :) and he lives in ?!@!@#?.
  • haentz, on 12/28/2008, -0/+8Not nearly, my friend, not nearly...
  • whorunbartertwn, on 12/28/2008, -0/+8Or have two roommates and no car.
  • alex7575, on 12/28/2008, -1/+9I tell people I'm a slanted eyed American...
  • e2superman, on 12/28/2008, -1/+9I live in LA and could buy a house anywhere in the US but here (a few exceptions). Buying here will cost me 700k for an ok house on the West Side.
  • inactive, on 12/28/2008, -0/+7No surprises there. California may also be the last to recover.
  • Lynxpro, on 12/29/2008, -0/+7Please stop calling my state "Cali". Life isn't a hip hop video.
  • mehan, on 12/28/2008, -0/+7well, they ain't West, that's for sure.
  • futonpimp, on 12/28/2008, -1/+8keyword "was" haha.
  • YodaJones, on 12/28/2008, -4/+11Michigan is a ***** hole.
  • TwistyMcFister, on 12/28/2008, -1/+8there are plenty of places in California you can get what you have for the same money, just not in LA, OC or SF.
  • devzer0, on 12/28/2008, -13/+20This is because no one in his right mind wants to live in Michigan or Minnesota or any of these other crapholes you idiots call home. California is expensive because it's 1) beautiful, 2) has culture, 3) has variety, 4) has mild weather, 5) is rich. Oh, and btw, you also *make* a hell of a lot more money doing almost anything than you do in a crap state. It kinda makes up for things.
  • SatoriSeeker, on 12/28/2008, -1/+8Yeah don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of cali over minnesota for most stuff. Ocean tax as I call it, is well worth it most of the time.
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