BUT THAT'S NOT THE FOCUS TONIGHT. ARE YOUR KIDS EVER GOING TO AFFORD TO LIVE HERE? ARE YOU EVER GOING TO RETIRE HERE? HOUSING AND COMMUNITY IS GENERATIONAL, BUT IF YOU DON'T MAKE GENERATIONAL TYPE MONEY, YOUR RUNWAY LIKELY ENDS SOONER THAN LATER IF YOU CHOOSE TO STAY HERE IN THE BAY AREA. I MADE $18,000 A YEAR MY FIRST NBC SALARY. ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION, THAT'S ABOUT $30,000 A YEAR IN RECENT TIMES, IN THIS DAY AND AGE. ACCORDING TO THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS, YOU NEED TO MAKE AT LEAST $300,000 A YEAR TO BUY A HOME RIGHT NOW IN FOUR OF OUR BAY AREA COUNTIES. HERE ARE THE NUMBERS. THE HIGHEST IS SAN MATEO COUNTY WHERE YOU NEED TO MAKE 364,000 BUCKS A YEAR. SAN FRANCISCO, NEARLY 332,000 BUCKS A YEAR. MARIN AND SANTA CLARA COUNTIES, ALSO OVER $300,000 A YEAR. ON THE OTHER END, PARTS OF THIS BAY AREA, THE NORTH BAY SEEMS TO BE MORE AFFORDABLE. YOUR MEDIAN INCOME STILL NEED B TO BE AT LEAST $139,000 A YEAR IN SONOMA AND $105,000 A YEAR. IF YOU MAKE $200,000 A YEAR, YOU'RE DOING SOMETHING RIGHT. BUT IF YOU'RE GOING TO BE RENTING, AMONG THE QUESTIONS NOW, WILL THIS BE CHANGING ANY TIME SOON? YOU CAN MAKE A BIG SALARY BUT STILL BE FORCED TO RENT. OUR BUSINESS AND TECH REPORTER JOINING ME TONIGHT. ALSO WITH US, OSCAR WAY. SCOTT, WE'VE TALKED ABOUT THIS FOR NOT DAYS BUT FOR YEARS TOGETHER IN THE NEWS ROOM. YOU'VE GOT TWO COLLEGE-AGED KIDS. WHERE ARE THEY GOING TO LIVE IN THEIR MID AND LATE 20s? >> VERY BIG QUESTION, RAJ. WE DON'T KNOW IF THEY'RE GOING TO GO AWAY TO COLLEGE OR STAY LOCAL. ONE THING WE KNOW IS HOW IN THE WORLD ARE THEY GOING TO COME BACK OR STAY IN THE BAY AREA IS THE BIG QUESTION. IT'S THAT GENERATIONAL THING YOU TALK ABOUT BECAUSE IT'S RARE FOR ANYBODY TO MAKE $300,000 A YEAR, NOT TO MENTION STRAIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE. AND IT'S A BIG QUESTION A LOT OF YOUNG PEOPLE ARE LOOKING AT AND NOT REALLY HAPPY WHEN THEY LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR CHOICES. >> IT'S YOUNG PEOPLE AND ALSO THEIR PARENTS LIKE US, SCOTT, ME AND YOU. OSCAR, LET'S BRING YOU IN HERE. WHAT'S THE REAL ESTATE IMPACT HERE FOR JUST NORMAL PEOPLE. EVEN HIGH EARNERS, TALKING ABOUT $200,000 A YEAR, THAT STILL DOESN'T CUT IT IN THE BAY AREA. >> YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. THANKS FOR HAVING ME, FIRST OF ALL. IT'S REALLY TOUGH TO LIVE IN THE BAY AREA. THE HOUSEHOLD INCOME WE'RE LOOKING AT $300,000 TO HIT THE MEDIAN PRICE HOME. NOW, OF COURSE THERE ARE SOME HOMES THAT MAY BE BELOW, YOU KNOW, THE REQUIREMENT OF $300,000, BUT, YOU KNOW, THE REAL ESTATE INDUSTRY AND THE HOUSING MARKET IS GETTING TIGHTER AND TIGHTER IN TERMS OF SUPPLY. THAT'S WHY IT'S GETTING TOUGHER AND TOUGHER TO BUY A HOME IN CALIFORNIA AND OF COURSE IN THE BAY AREA. >> OSCAR. >> WE HAVE -- >> YES? >> NO, GO AHEAD. SORRY TO CUT YOU OFF. >> TYPICALLY THE BAY AREA, AS WE KNOW, THE HOUSEHOLD INCOME IS TYPICALLY A LITTLE BIT HIGHER COMPARED TO OTHER PARTS OF CALIFORNIA. WE HAVE SHOWN SOME COUNTIES IN THE BAY AREA, IT'S A LITTLE BIT HIGHER THAN LET'S SAY SOLANO AND SONOMA. BUT IT'S VERY TRUE, IT'S GETTING VERY, VERY TOUGH. BASED ON THE NUMBER THAT YOU CRUNCHED, MAYBE ABOUT, ONLY 20%, MAYBE EVEN LESS THAN 20% OF THE HOUSEHOLDS IN THE BAY AREA CAN AFFORD TO BUY A MEDIAN PRICED HOME. AND THAT'S REALLY, REALLY TOUGH. >> OSCAR, IS THERE REALLY CALIFORNIA EXODUS? ON THE FLIP SIDE OF THAT, IS THERE ALSO A CALIFORNIA INFLUX? ARE OTHER PEOPLE COMING IN HERE BECAUSE THEY MAKE THESE BIG SALARIES? >> WELL, YOU KNOW, IN THE LAST 12 MONTHS, 18 MONTHS OR SO BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC, YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT OUT-MIGRATION. YOU HAVE HEARD ABOUT PEOPLE LEAVING CALIFORNIA OR LEAVING BAY AREA. I THINK IN THE FIRST SIX MONTHS, THE FIRST SEVEN, EIGHT MONTHS OR SO BECAUSE OF THE CONCERN ABOUT THE COVID SITUATION AND ALSO THE ABILITY TO WORK REMOTELY, A LOT OF PEOPLE ACTUALLY MOVED AWAY FROM THE METROPOLITAN AREA. SOME EVEN MOVED OUT OF CALIFORNIA BECAUSE THEY CAN FIND MORE AFFORDABLE HOMES. BUT IN THE LAST FEW MONTHS OR SO, WE STARTED SEEING A LITTLE BIT MORE PEOPLE ACTUALLY COMING BACK TO THE BAY AREA OR TO CALIFORNIA. PART OF THE REASON IS THEY HAVE THE EXPERIENCE OF TRYING OUT IN OTHER STATES LIKE UTAH, TAXES. BUT THEY ALSO REALLY LIKE CALIFORNIA. SO, YOU ARE SEEING SOME PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY MOVING BACK. AT THE SAME TIME I THINK THERE WILL STILL BE SOME PEOPLE WHO WILL BE MOVING OUT BECAUSE LET'S FACE IT, TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS US TO WORK REMOTELY. SO, IF THE HOME PRICES CONTINUE TO GO UP, THERE WON'T BE MORE PEOPLE MOVING OUT. BUT IT'S PROBABLY NOT GOING TO BE AS MUCH AS WHAT WE SAW IN THE EARLY PART OF THE PANDEMIC. >> SCOTT BUDMAN, BACK TO YOU. IS THE BAY AREA ONLY FOR TECH SALARIES NOW, EVERYONE ELSE GETS PUSHED OUT TO THE WAYWARD SUBURBS OR LEAVES THE REGION? >> IT'S REALLY TOUGH. PART OF THE PROBLEM, OSCAR SAID IT, THERE ISN'T THAT MUCH INVENTORY OUT THERE, SO PRICES GO HIGHER. AND THE SALARIES HAVE KEPT UP WITH THOSE PRICES IN THE TECH INDUSTRY. ONE THING THAT MAKES ME THINK THESE HOUSING PRICES AREN'T GOING TO GO ANYWHERE FOR A WHILE IS IN OUR ECONOMY, INVESTOR RISK IS BACK. WE'RE SEEING A LOT OF TECH IPOs OVER THE LAST COUPLE OF MONTHS. THAT MEANS WE'RE ONLY A FEW MORE MONTHS AWAY FROM YOUNG PEOPLE LARGELY GETTING A CHANCE TO TURN IN THOSE STOCK OPTIONS FOR CASH AND BEING ABLE TO PUT DOWN AND THINK ABOUT IT, A $200,000, $250,000 DOWN PAYMENT. THAT'S THE DOWN PAYMENT TO GET INTO THIS MARKET THESE DAYS. AND, YEAH, IT TAKES TECH MONEY, AND IT TAKES STOCK OPTIONS, AND THAT IS FLOWING INTO THE BAY AREA. >> FINAL QUESTION, IS IT OKAY TO SAY, YES, THE DEMOGRAPHICS ARE CHANGING AND NORMAL SALARIES, QUOTE/UNQUOTE, ARE JUST BEING PRICED OUT? >> WELL, I WOULD SAY, YOU KNOW, IT'S GETTING VERY, VERY TOUGH. AND KEEP IN MIND THOUGH, WE HAVE A GENERATION THAT WILL BE COMING IN AND BECOMING HOME BUYERS OR THE HOMEOWNERS. AND IT'S GETTING REALLY TOUGH FOR THEM. AND YOU ACTUALLY NEED A HIGH SALARY TO LIVE IN THE BAY AREA. LIKE I SAID, TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS PEOPLE TO MOVE TO OTHER COUNTIES THAT MIGHT BE AFFORDABLE. SO, IT IS POSSIBLE WE MIGHT SEE MORE PEOPLE MOVING OUT TO SOME OF THE PERIPHERAL AREAS, PERIPHERAL COUNTIES. BUT, YES, IF YOU LIVE IN SAN MATEO, SANTA CLARA AND SAN FRANCISCO, YOU DO NEED A HIGH SALARY RIGHT NOW. AND ALSO KEEP IN MIND WE HAVE A VERY, VERY LOW INTEREST RATE RIGHT NOW. NEXT YEAR INTEREST RATE WILL GO UP A LITTLE BIT HIGHER AND THE YEAR AFTER THAT TOO. >> IT'S THE PRICE WE
