Yet data says homes are affordable by historic standards. The same thing with people crying about the price of food when it’s historically affordable.
See my thread about living paycheck to paycheck…
Affordability is measured by looking at payment vs. median income. It’s not related to how irresponsible people are with their money.
Construction costs have way exceeded cost of living indexes. Housing, healthcare and education inflation is much higher than core inflation
Oddly, dollar per sqft for new construction is only 5% higher than existing home in Austin.
That’s true but if you look at the mortgage of a median home compare to median income, then housing affordability is about as good as it’s been. It was only better right after the Great Recession. I can’t remember who posted the article on it. $60k household income vs $325k median home price at 5% interest is still really affordable.
If that’s the case, why not buy the new house? Are the new houses in inferior locations?
Down payment is not related to mortgage rate. Also mortgage rate has increased due to Fed.
You caught an implication but not all the implications 
Obviously I bought a new house for Primary. Thanks for letting me brag. New houses have bigger square footage and larger lot hence higher absolute price, almost twice that of existing houses. New construction is not suitable for rentals since not many can afford, and if they can afford the rent most would choose to buy a smaller Primary 
You bought a new house in Austin as primary home? Is the Austin weather better or worse than Singapore?
And are you keeping your Cupertino house as a backup in case you want to move back?
- Yes
- Both are worse than Cupertino
- Yes
Why not retire in Hawaii? Are you aspiring to be a major landlord in Austin?
- Pearl Harbor? Can’t sleep at night.
- Landlord? I want to be a warlord.
Ok, let’s count our blessings, you multi homeowners!!!