[J. Fiction]

Originally Posted by Fuele

What age are you compared to the to the young couple in the article?

" desirable place to live" is your opinion. I don't agree.

I'm 34 and my wife is 31. More relevant is that I began my career in 2015 after finishing grad school, similarly my wife finished her masters in 2014, just before we married. So while a few years older than the couple in question our milestones occurred appear to have occurred within a similar timeframe.

As for your desirable comment, you are welcome to your opinion, but as you stated earlier West Hartford is oft-recommended on these forums and seems to consistently make "best places to live" lists. You might not agree with them, but I don't think you would objectively question its popularity. Having worked there for several years, my opinion is that it is a fine town but I wasn't interested in settling down there.

[East of the River]

So just by the numbers if we say a house averages 310,000 and income average 80,000 in WH, then the income to realestate ratio is 3.8 which is below the national average of around 4. So WH is actually more affordable (based on income ) then most of the country. It puts WH on par with Nashville Dallas and Tampa.
Now property taxes throw that out of whack a bit, but WH is a poor choice to pick on. Stamford at 4.5 would be a better choice if you want to pick on CT.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/...-whack/561404/
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/pr...istoric-highs/

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Fuele

Real Estate Free Trade?

Well I could post another Wall Street Journal article addressing that, but since they are biased, i will leave it out of the conversation.

Yes, home prices are determined by what people are willing and able to pay for it. Kind of the basics of our economy. I doubt the WSJ can argue that but please post what you have as long as it can be read without a subscription cost. Jay

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Fuele

And yet, it is one of the top three states of people making an exodus. The economic climate can't be very good based on that fact.

It’s not??? Connecticut was just named as No. 2 for prosperity in the country. We have the third highest Real GDP per capita in the country. Our unemployment rate is at the US average and is less than so called growing states like a North Carolina and Nevada. It is less than a half percentage point higher than other high growth states like Florida and Tennessee. We have the highest disposable income in the country. Connecticut rates at the top in health and education. All of these have been well documented here. Yeah, it sure sounds horrible. Jay

https://usprosperity.net/

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by JayCT

Yes, home prices are determined by what people are willing and able to pay for it. Kind of the basics of our economy. I doubt the WSJ can argue that but please post what you have as long as it can be read without a subscription cost. Jay

You need to subscribe. If I have more time I will cut and paste. But basically, the consensus is , and not just from them, that due to the involvement of the Federal Government in the market, it is not as " free " as one would suspect. And there are also other factors , for example regarding the appraisal process.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by JayCT

It’s not??? Connecticut was just named as No. 2 for prosperity in the country. We have the third highest Real GDP per capita in the country. Our unemployment rate is at the US average and is less than so called growing states like a North Carolina and Nevada. It is less than a half percentage point higher than other high growth states like Florida and Tennessee. We have the highest disposable income in the country. Connecticut rates at the top in health and education. All of these have been well documented here. Yeah, it sure sounds horrible. Jay

https://usprosperity.net/

I didn't say horrible. I said not very good . Then why the exodus? From your own link.

Between 2010 and 2018, Connecticut’s headcount dipped by a fraction of a percent, while remaining at approximately 3.57 million, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Illinois and West Virginia were the only other states whose populations shrank in that time frame.

[hvexpatinct]

Originally Posted by Fuele

Did you read the article? They are talking about the middle class. They are middle class here in CT.

West Hartford ! Isn't that a highly suggested place to move to ?

This couple lacks critical thinking and decision making skills. It has nothing to do with CT's economy and everything to do with the fact that they did too many things at once and overcommitted themselves. No one forced them to borrow $270k to buy in a high tax relatively costly town for the area while paying for student loans and daycare.

[JayCT]

Originally Posted by Fuele

You need to subscribe. If I have more time I will cut and paste. But basically, the consensus is , and not just from them, that due to the involvement of the Federal Government in the market, it is not as " free " as one would suspect. And there are also other factors , for example regarding the appraisal process.

What? Are you claiming the government controls the prices people pay for homes? I don’t think so. The government may have policies that encourage home ownership but that is very different than controlling prices. Jay

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by East of the River

So just by the numbers if we say a house averages 310,000 and income average 80,000 in WH, then the income to realestate ratio is 3.8 which is below the national average of around 4. So WH is actually more affordable (based on income ) then most of the country. It puts WH on par with Nashville Dallas and Tampa.
Now property taxes throw that out of whack a bit, but WH is a poor choice to pick on. Stamford at 4.5 would be a better choice if you want to pick on CT.

https://www.citylab.com/equity/2018/...-whack/561404/
https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/pr...istoric-highs/

I didn't pick West Hartford, the Wall Street Journal did.

[Fuele]

Originally Posted by J. Fiction

I'm 34 and my wife is 31. More relevant is that I began my career in 2015 after finishing grad school, similarly my wife finished her masters in 2014, just before we married. So while a few years older than the couple in question our milestones occurred appear to have occurred within a similar timeframe.

As for your desirable comment, you are welcome to your opinion, but as you stated earlier West Hartford is oft-recommended on these forums and seems to consistently make "best places to live" lists. You might not agree with them, but I don't think you would objectively question its popularity. Having worked there for several years, my opinion is that it is a fine town but I wasn't interested in settling down there.

Fair enough.