Napa County ranked 7th least affordable U.S. housing market

[Auggie]

napavalleyregister.com / 3-27-2016

Napa County’s housing market is ranked as the seventh least affordable in the U.S., according to data from the first quarter of 2016. The average wage earner would have to spent 84 percent of wages to be able to afford a median priced home in the county.

The housing data was gathered by RealtyTrac in its Q1 2016 Home Affordability Index.

The report analyzed median home prices derived from sales data collected by RealtyTrac and average wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in 456 U.S. counties.

SNIP

The least affordable housing markets include New York City, with a median price of $1.3 million, San Francisco (median price $1.1 million), Marin ($875,000), Kings, N.Y. ($679,500), Santa Cruz ($642,000), Orange, Calif. ($595,000) and Napa, with a median price of $545,000.

FULL STORY: http://napavalleyregister.com/business/napa-ranked-th-least-affordable-u-s-housing-market/article_766129ba-4382-5e30-9cc4-3fa06b5b2788.html

I'm shocked ... kind of. It makes complete sense with prime valley property (Yountville, St. Helena, Calistoga) factored in, though I never would have thought there was enough inventory to counter the sheer number of more "affordable" Napa (city) and American Canyon housing.

Still ...

[FarPoint]

1. That is why Napa is only a vacation destination for me.

Love all the Culinary connections there...it's like my vision of heaven, just can't afford to live there.

[Auggie]

2. To add insult to injury ...

I think many of these properties are second homes.

[FarPoint]

3. I wouldn't be surprised there...

Like Newport Rhode Island was back in the 20's.

[beltanefauve]

4. They are

I work in Napa Valley and commute from Solano County. Many of my coworkers rent rooms in these weekend homes, and only on the weekends do they see the owners. Many of these "rentals" have pools and wine caves. Those who seek homeownership go to Lake County and commute to NV from there. Unfortunately, several of these people lost their homes in the Valley Fire.

[Auggie]

5. I didn't know about the room renting ...

Are you and your coworkers are in the wine business?

We just barely were able to move to Napa in 2001 (I'd been saving for a down payment for over a decade). By 2006 the value of the house had doubled. Then the housing bust. Now it's headed way up again.

[beltanefauve]

6. Yes

I work in events and hospitality. The people I know renting rooms are hospitality workers ( tasting room, concierge, etc.) or they're in sales or middle management. The vineyard workers live in pockets of Napa or Calistoga. There are apartment buildings scattered on the outskirts of Napa, near downtown but not on the main winery roads. There are a few trailer parks in Napa and American Canyon too. Most tourists don't see these places.

[mackerel]

7. I used to sub in Napa but lived in V-town.

Napa Schools are pretty good which I think is one reason the housing market is high there.