What's the Median Income in your areas also? In Sac its approx. $45K, which makes it difficult to purchase a decent home anywhere. Luckily I make more than this, but it feels like its never enough.

DakarM - I don't think you meant anything with you last comment, but about being screwed in CA this was my opinion because of what my parents(in 1987) and what my other family members paid for (in the last 5-10 years) their home compared to what I will need to be paying. I'm paying twice as much as my aunt who has a sligthly larger home with more upgrades that she bought 6-7 years ago. I'm sure if you talk with other first time home buyers in the Sacramento Area (Elk Grove, Roseville, Rocklin, Folsom, Lincoln) many would agree they are getting the short end of the stick with purchasing a home. You could buy a new starter home (in a track community approximately 1,100 to 1,700 sq ft)for around $90K to $130K about 5 years ago, now you can't touch those same size houses for under $350K some areas they are in the +$400K mark. About 5-7 years ago with $500k you could by a fairly large custom home (anywhere from 3,000sq ft to 5,000 sq ft house) on an acre or two of land in one of the more upscale places in the area (gated community). Those same houses go for about $1.5 million and above. I guess my actual gripe is the increase in cost to purchase a home compared the increase in income, which has grown at an equal pace. I shudder at the thought of paying a +$500 for property tax monthly when I know others are paying $100-$200.