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hiricinee t1_jby6kac wrote

It's a little deceptive here- property taxes (and state income taxes) are a direct driver of home affordability. Illinois for example has some of the highest property taxes in the country, so the housing prices are lower since they're less affordable.

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thatdude333 OP t1_jbyqnwf wrote

Property taxes & state taxes definitely influence home affordability.

This isn't exactly apples-to-apples, but here are the county-level median property taxes paid for the top 20 and bottom 20 MSAs by Median Home Listing Price (Property tax data from https://taxfoundation.org/property-taxes-by-state-county-2022/)

Top 20 MSAs by Median Home Listing Price

  • Median Property Taxes Paid (2020) - Median Home Listing Price - MSA Name
  • $4.7k - $1,409.3k - Napa, CA
  • $7.6k - $1,399.5k - San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA
  • $1.3k - $1,395k - Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina, HI
  • $4.1k - $1,343.8k - Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA
  • $5.2k - $1,316.3k - Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA
  • $3.9k - $1,241.3k - Salinas, CA
  • $7.3k - $1,008.8k - San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, CA
  • $6.4k - $1,008.8k - Oakland-Berkeley-Livermore, CA
  • $4.9k - $973.5k - Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine, CA
  • $4.4k - $973.5k - Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, CA
  • $7.8k - $963.5k - Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT
  • $4.6k - $949.5k - Santa Rosa-Petaluma-, CA
  • $4.3k - $949k - San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-, CA
  • $4.5k - $934.8k - Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA
  • $4.4k - $932.5k - San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA
  • $4.5k - $889.5k - Ocean City, NJ
  • $2.6k - $881.3k - Naples-Marco Island, FL
  • $2.9k - $875k - Boulder, CO
  • $3.5k - $875k - Barnstable Town, MA
  • $3.8k - $799k - Boston, MA

Bottom 20 MSAs by Median Home Listing Price

  • Median Property Taxes Paid (2020) - Median Home Listing Price - MSA Name
  • $0.6k - $161.0k - Wheeling, WV-OH
  • $0.8k - $158.7k - Kokomo, IN
  • $0.6k - $155.0k - Beckley, WV
  • $2.9k - $154.7k - Elmira, NY
  • $3.5k - $154.4k - Rockford, IL
  • $1.1k - $153.0k - Terre Haute, IN
  • $2.3k - $151.6k - Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, PA
  • $0.9k - $149.5k - Muncie, IN
  • $0.8k - $145.0k - Charleston, WV
  • $1.3k - $144.9k - St. Joseph, KS
  • $0.6k - $139.8k - Pine Bluff, AR
  • $1.5k - $139.5k - Altoona, PA
  • $0.8k - $137.4k - Cumberland, WV
  • $1.8k - $131.2k - Saginaw, MI
  • $3.1k - $130.0k - Peoria, IL
  • $2.3k - $127.7k - Carbondale-Marion, IL
  • $2.3k - $117.2k - Decatur, IL
  • $1.0k - $112.2k - Weirton-Steubenville, OH
  • $1.5k - $102.4k - Danville, IL
  • $1.4k - $92.0k - Johnstown, PA

It would be interesting to add up median state income taxes paid and see how the total tax burden compares to high/low housing costs.

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hiricinee t1_jbysdrk wrote

As far as I can tell most localities basically leave money on the table with high tax rates. Raising property taxes decreases the price of the homes, which in turn results in a damper on revenue. You likely get a small bump in revenue with a rate increase in the short run followed by a decrease in the long run as the home prices stagnate.

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retrovaporizer t1_jbzesnj wrote

While true, housing costs in IL are still massively cheaper than the coasts even when factoring that in. Chicago is a huge bargain, and even with taxes is nowhere near PNW, CA, NY, or even Florida prices while still offering high incomes. Hell, there are podunk Midwestern college towns with housing costs that aren't all that different than Chicago

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hiricinee t1_jbzf92p wrote

Agreed but the catch is the return on investment is much lower. If your property value means nothing to you then affordability is everything, but would you rather be paying 1k in mortgage plus 800 in local taxes, or 1.3k in mortgage plus 500 in local taxes?

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retrovaporizer t1_jbzh518 wrote

I paid 2k in property taxes last year in Chicago and housing around me is mostly under 200k. Hardly breaking the bank. And I'm off a train line 15 minutes from downtown. Name another American city where that's possible .I'll take the affordability lol

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hiricinee t1_jbzkaqv wrote

I pay about 7k a year, the schools are halfway decent but otherwise don't really have anything to show for it.

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JJW2795 t1_jc3hv1o wrote

True, but I'm willing to bet the overall cost of home ownership in Missoula is still at the high end for the country. Really, that's the statistic that should be measured: overall cost of home ownership annually / median household income.

That would include taxes, insurance, and repairs/maintenance.

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