LOL, if anything my job will get busier LOl.

My fiancee is an apartment manager and 2nd quarter her occupancy rate dropped from about 96% down to 92%. It's been up and down but there have been a larger number of foreclosures here recently.

 

I just read this article, and thought it fit this thread title pretty well. Kind of interesting, but doesn't seem to show the effect in rural areas.


http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/wh...UtZmFzdGVzdA--

 

my .02?

i'd rent and save your nickels and dimes. prices still have a ways to fall and there is still a ****load of inventory out there. prices won't stabilize till we have reached ~6 months of available inventory and prices average 3-3.5x incomes. waiting and saving now can put you in a better spot down the road in a better house.

 

Move to OK. Housing market and economy has been dubbed "recession proof" in national media.

 

and why is that a good thing? prices were/are grossly over inflated. do people in OK enjoy paying for a townhouse what they would pay for a single family home?

 

Who said the prices were over inflated? And how does the housing market and economy for a state being good equate to townhomes being the same price as a single family home?

Not following your logic here...

 

i took your statement as OK being "recession proof" as the median household price in OK has risen in the past, but hasn't fallen due to recent economic conditions.

the townhouse analogy was an anecdotal statement but largely accurate. the price you pay in my area for a townhouse is close to what my parents payed for their 2000sqft single family in the same location 10 years ago. housing prices have risen unabashedly over the last decade vs. median income:



http://efinancedirectory.com/article...damentals.html

 

I've been told by friends that have come and gone from my area., That my house,that I built for about $75,000, appraised here for 125K at the time. I've been told in the DFW area would cost me about $350,000 on a city lot.
I love the rural area, "eggsare cheaper in the country" kinda thing. I may sometime have to move to a city, but I'll do anything to avoid it. Plus if I did move, I just couldn't bring myself to sell my house. I, with help put it together myself.

 

Well, what your parents spent for a 2000sq/ft house 10 years ago in WA would buy you a 5000sq/ft house in OK today.

I guess I dont understand what you are pointing out. It is desired for housing prices to go up. If they didnt, it wouldnt be an investment. Anyone who wishes they would drop or stay the same is just begging for a bad economy. I think you may be applying the cost of housing in your local area to other areas. Not all areas have such a high cost. As I may have overexaggerated in the first sentance here, OK is considerably cheaper. And typically, although the cost does rise and fall, it does not do it as sharply as in some areas of the US. In fact, the last time I did a sharp fall/rise was during the oil boom Late 70s early 80s.

In your graph, it shows the median income vs median housing cost. Maybe there is a problem with the median income, not housing cost.

OK housing market rises and falls just like any other, however, it doesnt do it so rapidly. Its this constant peak trough that makes it recession proof.