Are there any metros that aren’t fully insane nowadays?

When my wife and I tried to upsize in Charleston, we got outcompeted every single time. We had one seller smartly list on a Friday and announce “All offers welcome, we will accept the best offer on Monday.” We overbid by $30k and still lost to a $40k full cash no inspection buyer from out of state. We bid on a few others and quickly gave up and left the area, the carpetbaggers can have it.

Luckily I work remote and live in the country near a big college town now, but from what I hear of my coworkers in DC, Nashville, Miami, and Texas… it’s the same everywhere and often even crazier. I have no clue how my children will be able to buy a home at this rate.

You can name your price in the Houston market right now. The same is likely true for ATX and SA, but I don't have active properties in those markets.

The winds shifted about a year ago. Pull up any property in the north Houston area (Conroe, etc) if you really want a punch in the gut relative to your current desired market.

Teach them to build their own house. Built one for ~$60k recently, to buy anything comparable on the market in my area is $300k+.

The market prices an absolutely insane premium on being the guy that takes the risk to build a house.

A good project might be a little cabin that is under the sq ft to need a permit.

I had a local around Cincinnati say all the Ohio sucks memes are part of a concerted effort to convince people it's terrible here and they shouldn't come. A friend from Portland said they tried this years ago, telling everyone it did nothing but rain in the Northwest, and it didn't work.

Really though... this is a result of three things working in tandem: chronic underbuilding of housing especially in some areas, a prolonged period of low interest rates, and financialization of housing. The underbuilding of housing is driven by both NIMBYism and a particularly bad boom-bust cycle in housing a few years ago that scared off a lot of builders.