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Idiom: In the same ballpark
Let’s talk about numbers and what it means to be in the same ballpark.
Over the last few years, estimating the value of homes has been very challenging.
Home prices in countries from Canada to New Zealand had been rising so fast that asking prices and affordability were not in the same ballpark.
When things are in the same ballpark, they are similar in terms of cost or amount.
Perhaps hundreds of thousands of young first-time buyers had their dreams crushed when they tried to purchase a home, only to realize the price was way out of reach.
Others, who thought they were the lucky ones, did buy a home at an exorbitant price, only to be squeezed today by rising interest rates.
Sometimes you can’t win for losing.
Unfortunately, predicted mortgage rates and what they turned out to be are nowhere in the same ballpark.
It’s hard being a young person today.
However, patience is a virtue, and what goes up must come down – eventually.
I believe those who bought overpriced homes will lose value, while those who chose or were forced to delay a purchase will benefit through much lower prices.
Until then, they will have to rent.
That brings us to another example of where reasonable housing costs and reality are again not in the same ballpark.
I’ve been told university students in Vancouver, Canada, are being bled dry this year.
The price of one room in a shared house is as high as $1,400 a month.
I only paid $400 when I was a student at UBC.
$400 and $1,400 are nowhere in the same ballpark.
Pinch your pennies, boys and girls.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 75.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.