Photo: UCLA Library, Digital Collections, “New Houses in Van Nuys”, April 13, 1948

Joe Dungan from The Simon writes:

“Picture it: A young married couple is looking to get out of their North Hollywood apartment and buy their first house. They find a nice middle-class house in a decent neighborhood in Van Nuys with two bedrooms, a den, one-and-a-half bathrooms, and a detached garage.

They offer $12,000 for it. And their bid is accepted.

This is what happened to my parents in Van Nuys in 1967, before they divorced, before that part of Van Nuys became a bit dodgy, and before real estate increased about 4,800% in value. If you still think nostalgia is for assholes, then you have no soul.

I bring this up only because the cost of housing is something we used to bring up all the damn time here. But it comes up in conversation less and less these days, probably because it is as much of a reality of life here as the traffic. And the reality is a beautiful one for people who own a place and a hideous one for those who don’t.

At this point, you may be wondering what I’m saying that isn’t true about the rest of the country. First of all, it’s not true about the rest of the country. In some cities, housing prices are as stagnant as fashion trends of a cattle rancher. (Ever hear anyone telling you to get in on a great real estate deal in Detroit?)

Second of all, prices are more exaggerated here than in other “hot” markets. Sixteen of the one hundred most expensive zip codes are in our county. The median home price is $545,000, putting Los Angeles fourth in the nation. One study cited Los Angeles as the least affordable housing market in the nation, stating that a grand total of two percent of the homes are affordable for residents making median incomes.

There is one figure that astonishes me most. Consider that, depending on the personal finance expert you talk to, one should spend 25 to 33 percent of one’s income on one’s mortgage. In Los Angeles, the average is 62 percent, putting it far ahead of that of any other city.

In the twisted world of real estate, the demand that shot prices up also forced many of us out of the buying market. So, in addition to a huge number of people racing to buy homes, another huge number of people took shelter in the rental market, driving up rents as well. Today, the twelve grand that my parents spent for ownership of an entire house in (what was then) a very decent neighborhood gets you a year’s rent in a small apartment in a marginal neighborhood.

So not only are pre-2000 buyers basking in the good fortune of buying something that doubled in value in five years, but even renters of the era are considered lucky. I was fortunate enough to get into a nice apartment in 2001 that was run by a guy who didn’t realize just how much he could be asking for his vacant units. As the years go on, people register more and more astonishment when I tell them just how little I’m paying for my place, and how rent-control laws will forever dampen my annual rent increases. Despite the purported illogic of renting, I’m very reluctant to give up my inexpensive flat unless I’m absolutely certain I won’t be returning. Nice apartments this cheap are nearly as extinct as $12,000 houses in Van Nuys.”