In my neighborhood, housing hit 700K at the peak of the Bush bubble and has recovered to 500-550K for "red ribbon" properties, less for anything needing work. That is a flaming bargain by Southern California standards.

Over the road from me, a semi (duplex i belive in the USA - cheer Braussie!) was recently sold for about £200,000 - ten years ago the same place was up for £350,000 - and it's the same as my house - neither are worth more than £25,000 as they are shit and that worth is in the scrap value of the building products. Nice area though - old swampland battle field where a certain army not recorded well in 1066 died of food poisoning and other illness!

In the ghetto, 1-5k.

Get ready for a list of violations, no plumbing, no walls, etc though.

I paid 22.000 freedom-fuck-yeah dollars for a 64 square meters, two bedroom house with 4 acres of land, three years ago. It´s pretty sweet, i have a bunch of huge ass Eucalyptus trees in the backyard, fuckers are like 80 feet tall and probably full of murderous drop-bears.

It's going to vary wildly in the US. In the blighted areas in Detroit you can probably just "move in" and set up any city services available in the area and no one would say shit. In my area farmland can be worth quite a bit as fruit and nuts grow well in the region, the fact my city has a lot of industry means you can spend quite a bit for a more urban home, 250,000 USD will get you a small sized dump near the edge of the urban zone right now, 450,000 USD for a nicer or better located place. Prices fluctuate wildly, people out in the suburbs around here are still mostly underwater and no one wants to pay for those places (well, not no one, but the market is very slow for them, whereas even an expensive city home will sell in 2-3 days). Condos (basically what they call apartments that you "own" instead or rent) can be cheaper or way more expensive than homes, they can be very trendy at times, especially if well located.

The best house I ever owned I only paid 135,000 USD for in a rural area that I wish I could still be in. That was only a bit over a decade ago. In cheap areas there's not typically a lot of really well paying jobs, though, and that was no exception.

Well the house we currently live in is 5 bedroom, 3 bath, 3000 sq ft and it was $150,000


This is on the perimeter of Atlanta.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/Dover.html?maxPrice=200000&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=3&retirement=false&radius=5.0&propFeature=Garden&propFeature=Parking&partBuyPartRent=false

Local area for a 3 bedroom, with garden and parking. Everything you need to live right.
Well hand over a 25% deposit on £175,000+ and spend the next 35 years paying it back because most people are on minimum wage (approximately £13,370).
Where I work is even worse. I looked at houses local to work and they were basically starting at the £220,000 mark for two bedrooms and a garden. Better to travel and have some money then be broke every month.

Are most of the houses in the UK made of bricks? From all the movies/tv-shows etc I have seen from the UK, all houses look like they are attached to each other, made of brick and all pretty small. What kind of housing is the most usual being built today? Here in Norway the apartment block and attached houses are what is usually built. Few people can afford "big" standalone houses. There is a 15% "cash" demand for getting an 85% loan for buying a house. They changed this last year I think (was 10% before). But 25% sounds insane!

Edit: Here is what a typical (old) Norwegian house looks like: http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/thumblarge_318/1223042540PYBJ39.jpg

This little number is available and I happen the be the one offering it.
300k and not a penny less!

The previous owners.....well actually I think the previous owners are still in there somewhere.

Yes, mostly brick. Regulations brought in after pretty much all of London burnt down in the 1600s. The terraces and semi detached (all connected, or one big house split in two). Were mass-produced after world war 2 in and aroudn the cities.
In London, newer buildings in the city are nearly always apartments with richer families building small mansions on the outskirts. Most housing is still terraces and semi-detached though.

In my area, nothing special in the outer London area, a three bedroom semi-detached will go for about £350,000.

Actually many of the new build buildings (2000+) are wooden builds inside with brick cladding around them to help hold them together and stop them falling over. The bricks are to stop the spread of fires, as it should be contained within the adjoined structures. The bricks also stop our perpetually awful weather from destroying the flimsy wooden structures over night. I watched some being built 2 years ago. They went up in about 7~9 months.
It is quick, and importantly cheap to build along with being eco-friendly. The major downside is they are particularly noisy, as you can hear neighbors as if they are in the same room as you.
God awful houses, but when it is all you can afford to rent / buy then you have little other choice.

Personally I would choose a house build in the '80's or earlier for structural stability and general good looks, but that is more down to personal preference.

Well, considering you could pay over half a million for a small studio apartment, free-standing homes are outside the reach of most people where I live. Sometimes they can make it work if they rent out the basement, but usually they're just "house poor" then, as opposed to not being able to afford it at all.

For a decently-sized free-standing house, in a low crime area, you're probably looking at well over a million. Remember, I said "decently-sized," so I'm not talking about a huge home here, just one with over 1200 sq. ft.