We recently took an “exploratory trip” to Austin. Good food ( BBQ!), similar jobs available, and what’s more- its actually affordable. As in 200k or less for s decent house in a nice neighborhood. So the choice is whether to stay here and put a down payment on some overpriced house or move to TX, NC, GA, or some other Southeastern state and just about buy a house outright.

We are in our early 30′s. A lot of people our age I’ve met are making similar choices. If you look at any number of relocation forums they are crammed with people from Northeastern and West Coast states trying to get out of those states as fast as they can. Most are young professionals like us or middle class families with small children.

The bottom line is summed up in the article above. The housing boom elevated home prices to crazy prices, the bust happened, the economy tanked, and everything else has occured that “should” have caused prices to fall back to more reasonable levels. But the fact is that they are still way too high. So the heck with it We’re out of here, and so too are many others. I’d expect this pattern to stay until either home prices fall in the expensive states or prices in the states they’re going to partially catch up, which I doubt they will since there’s simply so much open land in those areas.

Adios Cali!