With gas prices skyrocketing, more buyers are taking driving distance and the time they spent commuting into consideration when they look for a home. Some who bought homes in distant suburbs during the real estate boom because that’s where they could afford to buy underestimated the cost of commuting and are suffering both a decline in their home value and a more expensive daily commute.
Builders are shifting gears and building closer to metro areas, where empty-nesters and younger singles are more likely to buy. This has created a renaissance in many downtown communities. With the percentage of couples with children declining, the trend toward suburban living is expected by some to continue to moderate even after the housing market recovers.
Although real estate sales and prices are flat or down in dozens of metropolitan areas, micro-markets within them are performing very differently. We live in one of these markets, Conejo Valley and other parts of the Ventura County. Call us a real estate oasis where neighborhoods and ZIP codes defy national and regional downturns. We tend to be in the upper part of any market. Housing analysts say they can be found in most major markets whose local economies display moderate to strong fundamentals.
Some of these characteristics include, close-in, established neighborhoods convenient to the urban center’s employment and cultural attractions. They don’t require residents to make long commutes, sit in traffic for hours or worry about gas prices. They’re above-median-income areas, often well above, with home prices to match. Typically, these are not entry-level markets, nor do they have lots of new subdivision construction.
Educational levels of residents exceed regional norms, local school systems are highly regarded, and crime rates generally are low. Lastly, prime mortgage territories, with little to none of the negative neighborhood impacts of rising foreclosures caused by payment-shock loans going sour.
The bottom line here? Real estate value patterns and sales performances are uniquely localized, right down to ZIP Codes, neighborhoods and even individual streets. In the current national correction phase following the unprecedented boom years of 2001 to 2005, even adjacent micro-markets may be performing very differently. Smart buyers and sellers know that, and adjust their strategies on pricing, timing and bargaining with a micro perspective, no matter what the metropolitan headlines may be.
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