Interesting (Wilmington: house prices, to buy, university)

[DebbieF]

While home values declined 4 percent on average in the last year, values were up nearly 29 percent over the past five years.


According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, markets that gained the most over the last five years were:

• 1. Honolulu: up 78.7 percent
• 2. Virginia Beach: 72.6 percent
• 3. Flagstaff, Ariz.: 66.5 percent
• 4. Bellingham, Wash.: 65.6 percent
• 5. Wilmington, N.C.: 62.1 percent
• 6. Baltimore: 60.6 percent

[mdp_az]

I bought a home in Flagstaff in Dec 99 for $177k. After 18 months, I sold it for almost $200k. That home was worth around $380k by late-2007, however its value is quickly decreasing now. What's so incredible there, compared to the other cities listed above, is that Flagstaff is a bit of a blue collar town in many respects, so it became almost impossible for many folks to make it work financially there.

[DebbieF]

I have been to Flagstaff once driving through and it didn't seem like much was going on there.

[mdp_az]

Originally Posted by DebbieF

I have been to Flagstaff once driving through and it didn't seem like much was going on there.

Quite the contrary IMO, but I'm an outdoorsy guy and found lots to keep me entertained. Flag is one of the two "winter playgrounds" of Arizona and has a pretty good ski mountain just north of town. There are also countless world class hiking & biking trails in the local forests. As home of Northern Arizona University, Flag's a college town and has a pretty hip and fun historic downtown bisected by the railroad and Route 66. Despite a population of around 60k, its a regional hub for banking, medicine & shopping, so there's quite a bit more going on there than in many other similarly-sized towns. All that, plus being able to wake up on a Saturday morning with no agenda and end up spending the day hiking at the Grand Canyon! Its a great place to live but a tough place to make a living.

But, back to the subject...if we'd only have stayed in Flagstaff another 8 years; of course hindsight is always 20/20!

[Grizzmeister]

Originally Posted by DebbieF

While home values declined 4 percent on average in the last year, values were up nearly 29 percent over the past five years.

That’s the root problem in the housing market today, house prices went up nearly 30% over the last five years but salaries didn’t. Basic economics teaches us that you can’t have a product on the market that people can’t afford to buy.

Since the housing market wasn’t properly managed it overheated and thus boiled over leaving us with a huge mess.