“It’s cheaper to live back home… in New York”

One of my favorite “jokes” is I like to tell people that I’d like to move back home eventually – where it is cheaper. Inevitably, the other person will ask “Where is home?”. Then when I say “New York”, the other person’s face will scrunch up in disbelief and confusion – as I just said that I ride a unicorn on a rainbow road to work.

This actually happened a few times over the weekend when I met with my classmates at orientation for Haas.

Today’s house price data confirms that I’m not making this up:

Home prices have fallen 7.6% over the past 12 months – Aug. 14, 2008
The most expensive metro area in the nation is San Jose, where a median priced home cost $755,000, off 12.7% from 12 months ago. The second most expensive area is San Francisco, where homes sold for a median of $684,900, down 19.1%. Honolulu was third, with a median price of $636,000, down 4.4%.

A big part of the confusion is that most people only think of Manhattan when they hear “New York”. But there’s more to NY than just Manhattan. (Unless you live in Manhattan I suppose!)