Food (or Stories) for Thought to Start the Week

A few stories that I think are relevant to today’s real estate market, and the future of same.

• A Driverless Future – “Imagine a commute where, instead of steering yourself through traffic, you can sip your coffee, get some work done or even nap while your self-driving vehicle makes your commute for you.” Great stuff from UVA.
• Student Loan Debt Hampering Home Buying: A Regional Perspective (archived: 2016) – “For all buyers this year, a little more than a quarter (27 percent) reported having student loans with a median of $25,000 in debt. For first-time buyers, 40 percent cited still having student loans with a median amount of $26,000 in debt.
• Four Million Commutes Reveal New U.S. ‘Megaregions’ – “An ever increasing share of the world’s population is living in what are known as megaregions—clusters of interconnected cities. The concept of the megaregion is decades old and fairly easy to grasp, but geographically defining them has turned out to be rather tricky.
• Ben Carson selected for HUD Secretary – “In fact, a top Carson aide, Armstrong Williams, told The Hill last month that the former GOP presidential hopeful wasn’t interested in a Cabinet position because, “Dr. Carson feels he has no government experience, he’s never run a federal agency. The last thing he would want to do was take a position that could cripple the presidency.”” Brave new world, folks.