Washington is one of the most expensive cities in the United States for homebuyers.

Even the subprime crisis of 2008 barely affected the price level.

The trend has been pointing upwards for decades.

The Palisades district, on the other hand, is one of the more sought-after.

It is located in the quiet green north-west of the capital.

Eighteen fifteen houses here cost over a million dollars.

Winand von Petersdorff-Campen

Business correspondent in Washington.

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One example of many is a recently launched semi-detached house. It is located on a busy street, has 185 square meters, balconies, a terrace and parking space for cars. The property is small, part of the living space is in the basement. The sellers are asking for $ 1.3 million for the property. That has become pretty normal in this quarter. But: In November 2005 the house had been sold for $ 615,000, four years earlier for $ 377,000. Since then, the value of the house has more than tripled.

This increase in value plays a central role in Americans' calculation of whether they can or want to afford a house.

Americans are less insecure about high purchase sums that would alienate a Swabian housewife.

Because they don't follow the mental concept that the property has to be paid off in full in the course of its life.

Rather, they expect to sell the house on after a few years, preferably at a profit.

It has worked well for many years, and many have improved from move to move.

Quite a few American families have bought three or more houses in their lifetime.

Great urban-rural divide

When Americans like a home, the main question they ask themselves is whether they can afford the monthly burden.

The fact that interest rates are low and interest payments are tax deductible (up to a certain extent) is playing into their hands.

Unlike in Germany, this also works if the buyer uses the house himself.

But none of that changes the fact that a middle-income family - in Washington, DC, that's around $ 80,000 - can't afford an eight-fifteen home if they don't have money on their hands or get help from relatives .

After all, 28 percent of all buyers who buy a home for the first time in the United States are given or loaned money from family and friends.

The answer to the question of whether the dream of owning a home for a typical middle-class family is over or is still alive is still not easy to answer. Because Washington may be representative of the urban boom regions of the country with the sometimes absurd prices, but Washington does not represent the rest of the country beyond the flourishing metropolises. For example, three and a half hours from Washington is Morgantown, one of the largest cities in West Virginia. The houses there cost roughly a third as much as in DC. However, at $ 43,000, the median household income is only about half that in the capital.

The urban-rural divide is particularly clear on winter days when it snows in the DC neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland.

Then classes in the public schools in Washington are canceled, even when there is no snow in the capital.

The reason for this is simple: Many teachers cannot afford to live in the capital, they have to travel long distances.

Two thirds live in their own home

A study by the real estate platform Trulia from 2019 revealed that middle-income teachers in California's Silicon Valley could afford less than one percent of the houses on offer, in San Francisco 5 percent, in Denver just under 6 percent and in Washington, DC, after all 32 percent. Only: Since then, the houses in DC have risen again by almost 20 percent, and wages have risen much more slowly. And even these statistics make reality more beautiful. Houses in south-east Washington, for example, are much cheaper, so reduce the cut, but for many there certain streets are out of the question because crime there has risen sharply in the past two years. More than 200 people were killed in Washington last year.The increasing number of serious crimes has increased significantly in almost all metropolitan areas in the USA over the past two years, and has thus further narrowed the urban housing market in the peaceful neighborhoods.

The trend towards home office, on the other hand, provides some relaxation. Most employees are still allowed to work from home. This is why many people now accept longer journeys to the office if they only have to go downtown twice a week instead of five. The outward trend is reflected in the prices. Far more houses are being sold in the suburbs around DC than in previous years, and prices are rising sharply here too. Even towns farther away register immigrants if they are attractive. Also because of this trend, the homeowner rate last year was 66 percent for the first time in twelve years. So two-thirds of households in the United States have achieved their dream of owning a home.

The teachers, however, are going from the flag.

Hardly any other occupational group shows such a high rate of termination as they do.

You have to commute whether it's raining or snowing.

They are exposed to a higher risk of infection and are ambitious parents who ask for an additional online option during class if it occurs to them that they want to spend a few days in the house in the country.

Without an income, however, the good teachers have to fear that they will be ousted by the newcomers.

It remains difficult.