The Average Price of New Cars in the US has topped $50,000 for the First Time…
If Johnny Cash were around today and he might be inspired to change the lyrics to his song, “Five Feet High and Rising” to “Five-Thousand Dollars and Rising…”
This has been reported on several news networks and Kelly Blue Book reported, “The average American new car buyer paid $50,080 in September — a new record, and the first time the figure has ever topped the $50,000 mark.”
And Edmunds reports are not any more encouraging… They Report, “The Average Amount Owed on Upside-Down Auto Loans Climbed to an All-Time High of $6,905”
The average of new vehicles is a problem but there are many new vehicles that can be bought new for less money ( just no reasonable priced pickup trucks ).
What really bothers me is home prices . I read an article recently where a builder was proud of his planned addition of starter homes that start at 300000.00
I agree the cost of new vehicles is insane. The solution is, of course, to buy old vehicles, fix them when they break, keep them maintained, and drive them for as many years as possible. I am planning to run my current vehicles to at least 300,000 miles,
I was visiting a friend of mine in Pelham NH and drove past this mobile home for sale. Asking price is more than what I paid for my new Colonial on 3+ acres of land over 20 years ago. 20-25 percent of all home sales in southern NH are from investment companies. This is really driving the cost of homes up.
I don’t buy new cars, I buy the cars people trade in when they want a new car. So this may affect the cars I have available to me if drivers choose to keep their current rides longer due to the rising costs of new. We’ll see.
On the other hand, my wife bought a new car in 2018 and it was in the $50K range.
I would love to see new homes available for $300K. Here’s what’s available in my neighborhood:
Youch!
You can’t even get a freestanding single home in this area, in any condition, for that amount. There are no “fixer uppers” left. Average home value is above $610k
I wouldn’t pay a penny more than $200k for that 2-bedroom/1-bath house, in the condition pictured, Maybe with a new roof, new appliances, and upgraded flooring I might go as high as $250k. But $450k for that fixer-upper? No effin’ way!
Not true for equivalent cars. A Honda Accord SE cost $10,000 in 1981, equal to $35,000 today, much more than the cost of an equivalent 2026 Civic (which is a bigger car).
Another example: a ‘96 Lexus ES300 was about $30,000, equal to $62,000 today, MUCH more than a 2026 ES350, which I can find starting at $48,000.
Average car cost has gone up because people can afford to buy bigger/better cars, including large and luxurious cars/CUVs/SUVs trucks not available 30+ years ago. If you’re happy with an equivalent car, prices are no higher today
+1
In my town, the cheapest housing unit currently on the market is a townhouse, for $435k. Even relatively-small detached SF homes start at ~$585k, with most homes in my neighborhood listing for $700k-$800k.
But, I did find a mobile home–situated several miles away, on extremely-busy US Route 1–that is listed for $185k. Trust me… you wouldn’t want to live adjacent to that highway.
This article references papers on people perception of why house prices are high vs the actual reasons… regulations imposed by the city and county as well as the NIMBY effect.
Two other (related) reasons: average house size keeps getting larger, and some cities are mandating minimum house sizes, eliminating ‘starter’ homes. Mesquite, a middle class suburb of Dallas, was considering a 2000 sq ft minimum, far larger that the starter houses I remember.
Yes there are at least three companies advertising around here to buy your house for cash. No need to fix anything and pay no fees. So ask yourself why? What is their game plan? Corner the rental market, raise retail prices, or what. And where is the money coming from to do this?
Now as far as buying old cars to avoid the cost of new, where do you think the old cars come from? That’s the Cuba model. If new cars are not bought, they will not be produced, and there will be no old cars. Math, economics, and civics is not taught like it used to be but consider what “average” actually means.
My parents bought their one and only home in 1961. The neighborhood was all built out from 1946 to about 1951. It was about 1250 sf with a full unfinished basement and no garage. The houses were spaced roughly 18 feet (a driveway and a little strip of grass) apart. Those older homes in the neighborhood are still the starter homes but many now have become the downsized empty nester homes, too.
Many of the suburbs nearby had minimum build requirements as in your area. 1900 sf minimum on a 0.2 acre lot with full water and sewer services. Some developments have boosted that minimum to 2500 to 3000 sf on 0.25 acre lots.
The zoning that requires that is pure and simple NIMBY. No one will agree to a 1200 sf starter home on a tiny lot being built near their 3500 sf home. It will likely devalue their biggest asset.
It’s not just the cost of a new home that is so outrageous but so many, many new communities are going up with the contractor in partnership a Homeowners Association (HOA) management company. And few buyers take the unending expense of the HOA Fees long after the home is paid off…
In many, many cases the developer created a subsidiary management company to handle these duties. Which ensures a perpetual source of income long after the homes are all sold and the contractor has moved on to other like projects.
They don’t get move-in ready houses. People with homes that need serious work sell to these guys. The buyer knows how much it will cost to renovate anything they see and also know what a home in top condition will sell for. They subtract the cost of renovations and their profit from the market value of that great condition home and that is the max they will pay. My wife’s grandmother owned a home that she was unable to take care of as she aged but she refused to move out. When the water pipes froze and broke, her daughters finally got her out. They sold the house to a professional renovator. He restored the house then sold it.
