Posted on 02/23/2007 9:02:05 AM PST by RobRoy
"I live in southwest Colorado in a condo with a million dollar view that's sure to appreciate"
Beautiful part of the state, congrats. Near Durango, or Pagosa Springs?
My mountain properties are in Grand County. Much colder winters up there, but the fishing is food from April through October.
My husband and his brother are from Pittsburgh. My husband and I live in the Washington, DC area, and his brother and wife live in Houston.
We were driving through a suburban area in Pittsburgh and saw a lovely, Tudor-style house, listed at $650,000. Each of us judging by our local standards at home, my husband and I exclaimed, "That's so cheap!" just as they were saying, "That's SO expensive!" :)
Any theories why?
I heard the RE bust is more regional rather than national in scope. The areas that might do the worst are the areas that appreciated rapidly the past few years such as Florida, California and the Eastern seaboard...
You know, I am wondering if this is true at all or just a myth fostered by RE agents. I live way up north from you near Lynden and I noticed that many homes are not selling. A lot of them are still on the market for six months or more. I don't know if people are just holding out so they can sell the houses with the minimum loss or not serious sellers. But we will see how things go around here...
Thanks for getting that information for us and OUCH! But how is that compared to the previous years? Getting worst or the same?
Seattle (where I'm originally from) is absurdly overpriced and the quality of the housing is shoddy overall. Texas has not really participated in the housing bubble. Housing in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, and Austin are 1/3 to about 1/2 what they would be in Seattle.
"I don't work or invest much in Denver proper, but in the western suburbs, and the mountains. The mountain areas are on fire and appreciating well.
Any theories why?"
I know why. Demographics is one reason. Boomers are buying second homes and eventual retirement (or semi-retirement) homes in the mountains, due to beautiful settings, lots of public land (1/3 of Colorado consists of public land), lots of recreational possibilities, and a highly educated population.
Real estate prices here are much lower than on the coasts, so a lot of those people are moving here and investing here. And, we don't have the worry that we will lose a beachfront home to the ocean or a hurricane.
That's a short, incomplete offering for you. The same thing is happening in many parts of the country. People are ready to get out of the big cities and move to small towns in the West and Southwest, and I hear the deep South in getting some play also, though I don't deal there.
I travel down to the new Toyota plant in San Antonio and chuckle everytime I see the new home prices on billboards around the area. Compared to my neighborhood in the Bay Area it's closer to 1/4 the price.
Excellent points.
"To date, Texas is averaging one foreclosure for every 547 households -- making it the state with the sixth-highest foreclosure rate."
This is a perfect illustration of why the country is not in a real estate "bust."
Texas real estate is appreciating in value, even though the state is the 6th worst for foreclosures. 546 out of every 547 houses are NOT in even the early stage of foreclosure. This means 99.8% of the housing in Texas in not in trouble.
Employment is high in Texas, and most foreclosures are due a nexus of idiots with predatory lenders. Not all foreclosures, but most.
Agreed. There are lots of reasons for foreclosures - here the problem is not a real estate appreciation bubble. Prices are going up, but it is very gradual in most areas.
"Excellent points."
Thanks.
People should remember that the MSM lies and exaggerates about real estate just like the MSM lies about many other things.
If it bleeds, it leads, in real estate as well as war.
December is notoriously flat for real estate in the Seattle area - Not many homes available and not many buyers. When it starts heating up in January the first thing you notice is more for sale signs. The sellers come out of the woodwork. The idea is supposed to be that the buyers do to. That we shall see. So far, it is obvious that the homes are staying on the market a lot longer than the same time last year. Actually, I've seen VERY few sold signs and a LOT of "price reduced" or "new price" signs already.
But this is anecdotal. That stats will help us out in a month or so.
Where are you, achilles?
I saw an article last week chronicaling the mortgage company collapses over the last year. The number was staggering. I'll try to scare it up.
Yeah, I think 23 of the largest 25 sub-prime lenders have closed up or merged. Major washout in that part of the market.
>>This is a perfect illustration of why the country is not in a real estate "bust." <<
I don't think the country is in a real estate bust. I think some regions are.
I think the country WILL be in a bust beginning this year, but we are not there yet.
>>Yeah, I think 23 of the largest 25 sub-prime lenders have closed up or merged. Major washout in that part of the market.<<
The key is going to be if the washout in that part of the market is enough to cause "critical mass" for the whole market. If we keep below that threshhold (wherever it is), this will be a normal cycle downside. If we breach that threshhold, all bets are off and this could get really hairy.
Time will tell.
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