Pittsburgh area building too many higher end apartments (Bloomfield: sales, for rent)

[Copanut]

Check all the high end townhouse near N
McCandless Crossings. Not my cup of tea, but they are all sold.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by ferraris

Generic high end apartments with hundreds of chain stores and restaurants in huge parking lots within a 10 minute drive are attractive to a lot of people. I'm not one of them, but I can see the appeal.

Yep. I expect those in Robinson and at RPM will fill rapidly.

[brother_rebus]

Pittsburgh was a city built on this principal.
The "if you build it, they will come" mixed with the exuberant phallus measuring contest of the steel industry. Many of these large buildings sit with unoccupied floors, both for business and housing. Do a little search on commercial realestate dahntahn, and craigslisting for apartments/condos too.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by brother_rebus

Pittsburgh was a city built on this principal.
The "if you build it, they will come" mixed with the exuberant phallus measuring contest of the steel industry. Many of these large buildings sit with unoccupied floors, both for business and housing. Do a little search on commercial realestate dahntahn, and craigslisting for apartments/condos too.

commercial real estate "Dahntahn" is at over 92% occupancy rate.

apartments occupancy rate is at 95% for pittsburgh as a whole.

[Moby Hick]

Originally Posted by jea6321

commercial real estate "Dahntahn" is at over 92% occupancy rate.

Thanks for this. That's what I thought also. And I assume most of the vacant 8% involves crappier space.

[xdv8]

Originally Posted by brother_rebus

Pittsburgh was a city built on this principal.
The "if you build it, they will come" mixed with the exuberant phallus measuring contest of the steel industry. Many of these large buildings sit with unoccupied floors, both for business and housing. Do a little search on commercial realestate dahntahn, and craigslisting for apartments/condos too.

What does a little search on Craigslist tell anyone? You don't know enough about this topic, that's clear.

[maxx233]

I'm out in Garfield, and seeing all the high end apartments going in on the East End is pretty nuts. I can't imagine them being filled at the insane rates they're charging, and I can't imagine the traffic congestion it's going to cause if they are filled.

After living here for 4 years now, we're finally looking to buy a place, and have basically been priced out of this area because so many developers snatch everything up - presumably in anticipation of the market going up. I feel Pittsburgh actually has a housing bubble happening, at least in this area. Part of me wants to buy something crummy that we can still afford because we love where we're at, and not buying in this neighborhood means leaving Pittsburgh for us (just not really interested in other neighborhoods.) And there does seem to be a lot of promise for it getting even better around here, I love the vibrancy and the bustle going on (although that could just be all the college students flooding Target.) But then the other part of me is terrified of buying here and the market dropping in a few years when everyone's like, "oh yeah... it actually doesn't make sense to be paying these prices for Pittsburgh! Duh." If there were boatloads more jobs around here then maybe, but not everyone can work for Google. I'm not sure I understand where this demographic is coming from and why they'd choose Pittsburgh over other places honestly. Affordable housing has been a big draw here for a long time - I'm not convinced Pittsburgh is quite ready to lose that just yet.

[szug-bot]

Originally Posted by maxx233

I'm out in Garfield, and seeing all the high end apartments going in on the East End is pretty nuts. I can't imagine them being filled at the insane rates they're charging, and I can't imagine the traffic congestion it's going to cause if they are filled.

After living here for 4 years now, we're finally looking to buy a place, and have basically been priced out of this area because so many developers snatch everything up - presumably in anticipation of the market going up. I feel Pittsburgh actually has a housing bubble happening, at least in this area. Part of me wants to buy something crummy that we can still afford because we love where we're at, and not buying in this neighborhood means leaving Pittsburgh for us (just not really interested in other neighborhoods.) And there does seem to be a lot of promise for it getting even better around here, I love the vibrancy and the bustle going on (although that could just be all the college students flooding Target.) But then the other part of me is terrified of buying here and the market dropping in a few years when everyone's like, "oh yeah... it actually doesn't make sense to be paying these prices for Pittsburgh! Duh." If there were boatloads more jobs around here then maybe, but not everyone can work for Google. I'm not sure I understand where this demographic is coming from and why they'd choose Pittsburgh over other places honestly. Affordable housing has been a big draw here for a long time - I'm not convinced Pittsburgh is quite ready to lose that just yet.

Maxx, if you like Garfield, have you considered Uptown? Location-wise, it might not be optimal for some, depending on habits, lifestyle, etc., but for speculative purposes, it might be a good idea to examine your potential there.
I would say even the Hill District.

I used to get excited about Troy Hill, and thought I would end up there...but, alas, I am still renting, and have no desire to buy in Troy Hill. There are no amenities close enough - and winter on that hill????

[_Buster]

Originally Posted by maxx233

But then the other part of me is terrified of buying here and the market dropping in a few years when everyone's like, "oh yeah... it actually doesn't make sense to be paying these prices for Pittsburgh! Duh." If there were boatloads more jobs around here then maybe, but not everyone can work for Google. I'm not sure I understand where this demographic is coming from and why they'd choose Pittsburgh over other places honestly. Affordable housing has been a big draw here for a long time - I'm not convinced Pittsburgh is quite ready to lose that just yet.

Hi, I think its actually a pretty simple reason - the places they might rather be are even more expensive, sometimes by a lot. and the large cities cheaper than Pittsburgh are for the most part, less desirable places to live.

[jea6321]

Originally Posted by _Buster

Hi, I think its actually a pretty simple reason - the places they might rather be are even more expensive, sometimes by a lot. and the large cities cheaper than Pittsburgh are for the most part, less desirable places to live.

ding ding ding,

pittsburgh isnt going to pop anytime soon. It may flat line in appreciation for a bit, but there wont be some crazy 07-08 type catastrophe here. our appreciation rates are way under the hot markets of the country. Even the east end which has seemed crazy for pittsburgh standards, is still not unsustainable. the hottest pittsburgh neighborhoods have basically doubled in price over the past 10 years. with the laws of compounding interest ( rule of 72 anyone?) means that the average appreciation in these areas over this period would be 7.2% per year. That is a healthy appreciation, but not crazy by any means. During the early 2000's to 07 around the nation, hot markets were averaging over double that, some markets were seeing 20-25% annual appreciation all based on stated income loans. Things are much different today. Lending standards are very tight and loans are very secure.

If anyone is sitting on the sidelines waiting for housing to crash so they can buy at a steep discount, I have a pretty strong feeling you will be waiting around for a long time. but hey, I could be wrong. Time will tell.