For the average home price in San Francisco, you could basically own three domiciles in Solano County.
The cost of living in the Bay Area has only soared since “pandemic pricing” faded into the fiscal background in late 2021. This year alone, rents across the Bay Area have gone up over 13% on average; the typical value of homes in the region is now $1,388,998 — a 4.9% increase over 2021. The annual inflation rate for the United States in 2022 is now set at 7.7%, which is nearly twice the historical average.
Quite literally, it’s expensive as-all-fuck to exist in a monetized, capitalistic society, now more than ever before in human history. And this all coincided with stagnating salaries, unlivable wages, and college debt relief on pause due to conservative uproar.
This nexus of the high cost of living exists in the Bay Area. Our $350 CA Relief Refund checks and direct deposit can only go so far. That amount, too, represents about 0.3% of the funds needed to secure a 20% down payment on a home in the most affordable metro in the Bay Area.
Where is that area, you ask? Solano County remains the most affordable county to purchase a home in the region.
According to a the most recent housing report from the California Association of Realtors, of the nine Bay Area counties, Solano County sits firmly as the “most affordable” housing market in the region with the average house price of $565,000, which is actually $12,000 less than what was observed in September of 2022.
The county in second place for the most affordable metro in the region comes well, well (v well) over Solano; Sonoma County’s $798,000 average home price is still nose-bleeding above the $507,800 median home price in America.
A typical house in San Francisco is currently settling for $1,693,000 — over three times the average cost for a home in the country — though it’s not the most expensive metro in the Bay Area. It’s only the second.
Surprisingly, the crown for the most expensive place to live in the Bay Area belongs to San Mateo County… with houses typically going for $1,900,000.
Reading these figures, it’s little wonder why 62% of the households in San Francisco are renter-occupied, while just 38% are owner-occupied.
Maybe it’s time to start that OnlyFans account…
Feature image: The north end of the Carquinez Bridge, just south of Vallejo, is a known landmark for road trippers heading to or from the Bay Area.
(Courtesy of Todd A. Merport/Shutterstock)
