Here’s why: While house prices over the last decade have gone through the roof, the annual cost of owning a house has not.This is an excellent editorial that takes to time to explain some of the basic fundamentals of the “bubble.” I believe that there is certainly room for a decrease in the local market’s rapid rate of appreciation. From Rismedia – In a study covering 46 single-family housing markets from 1980 to 2004, Charles Himmelberg, Christopher Mayer (Columbia Business School), and Todd Sinai (Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania) confront misperceptions about the underlying drivers behind the decade-old real estate boom. The researchers find that recent growth rates of house prices do not reflect a bubble — and, in fact, are largely explained by basic economic fundamentals such as low interest rates, strong income growth among high- income Americans, and unusually low housing prices in the mid-1990s.I think that the market’s future remains in the middle.
Browsing Category Affordability
Affordable housing
I will have to find time to listen to this today. Affordable housing does pose a great challenge to our region. More than likely, more government involvement is not the answer.
Old Trail Approved
It will be interesting to see in Daily ProgressWINAMy favorite quote -“As far as Crozet is concerned [building Old Trail] is like dancing with an elephant,†resident Sandy Wilcox said. “It gets you a lot of attention, but if it steps on you, you’re dead.â€Old Trail could be a really, really good thing. However, without planning for the proper infrastructure needs – roads, rail, trails to the schools, etc. life in Crozet may get very difficult. Educate yourself about how to voice your opinion at Charlottesville Tomorrow’s site.
Affordable housing?
This caught my eye in today’s story on Old Trail Village in Crozet.Developer Justin Beights says Old Trail Village will include affordable housing and park land. Hmmm. What is affordable housing?
Afternoon links
The economy is a fickle thing, driven largely by the Fed’s policies, etc. but psychology plays and equal, if not larger part.Given all of this doom-and-gloom reporting, maybe the surprise is that Americans are nonetheless behaving with their typical optimism, buying goods and services, bidding up the stock market, and creating new businesses. They may repeat to pollsters what they hear on TV, but they are acting on what they see with their own eyes.The parallels between this article and Charlottesville’s condo market are direct and important.But now, families that can easily afford to buy a home are choosing to live in condos, and that says a lot about Americans’ changing lifestyles. Between 1970 and 2000, the percentage of nuclear families among U.S. households declined to 24% from 40%, according to the Census Bureau. Some studies show that the number of households without children will increase in the next 10 years, while those with children will fall slightly.Home builders say the rise of the condo also reflects a desire among buyers to live downtown, with easy access to restaurants and entertainment, and no tough daily commute or time-consuming domestic upkeep.
C’Ville’s bubble
My short answer is “maybe.”There has been an awful lot of discussion here and elsewhere about the possibility of a real estate bubble locally and nationwide…. What happens in California (they have 17 of the top 20 “extremely overvalued” markets) does not have a direct, nor a necessarily indirect effect on the Charlottesville/Central VA market. What their data can do is give us guidance of sorts.When California Association of Realtors starts issuing an Amendment titled “Market Conditions Advisory,” which states, “In light of the real estate market’s cyclical nature it is important that buyers understand the potential for little or no appreciation in value, or the actual loss in value, of the property they purchase.”… One would expect our market to be more valuable than many markets, especially in light of the recent news that we are the Number One Best Place to Live (again, ranked by USA Today).
Housing Fund and Bruce Hornsby
Want to support the CAAR Workforce Housing Fund that supports teachers, police officers, nurses and firefighters? Stop by or call CAAR at 434-817-2227.Tickets are just $27 and half of the proceeds go directly to the CAAR Work Force Housing Fund. These are good seats under the canopy and are the same price you could buy them from the Pavilion. The Workforce Housing Fund is, simply put, a great thing for which CAAR won a national award recently.If you do happen to buy tickets because you saw it here, please email me and let me know.