2010 Lehigh Valley Predictions (Philadelphia, Allentown, Penn: apartments, foreclosures, rentals)

[LifetimeLocal]

1) House values continue to fall

2) Foreclosures increase will causes home values to decrease faster

3) Eagles fans and all those who bought during the housing bubble are crying in Feb.

[sp2007]

Lehigh Valley will continue to be the fastest growing (by population) area of Pennsylvania.

[butterfly57]

Wow, makes me wonder why the heck I moved here? But, consider this....my husband actually got a job here in Allentown that offers a solid 50 hours a week, instead of the company he worked for, that laid off 100 people & cut his dept hours back to 32 hours a week. I don't know anyone or anywhere that's not suffering right now.....some worse than others but seems like there's no safe haven anywhere. So sad but true.

[toobusytoday]

I predict that the economy will improve within two or three years but hope that the housing market slows down. Enough with the developments please!

[18060]

My predictions:-The housing market in the LV will remain stagnant. The influx from NY/NJ will [hopefully] slow down. Prices will not change much either way.-Taxes will rise, as there is less money coming into the municipalities. As a side consequence, watch for more cops out on the road to help fill the coffers.-Crime will rise, especially serious ones, as people hard on their luck get more desperate.-The job market in the LV will also remain stagnant, although it will still be better than in most other areas.-The Postal Service will drop Saturday deliveryAll in all, some good, some bad.

[LifetimeLocal]

Originally Posted by 18060

My predictions:-The housing market in the LV will remain stagnant. The influx from NY/NJ will [hopefully] slow down. Prices will not change much either way.-Taxes will rise, as there is less money coming into the municipalities. As a side consequence, watch for more cops out on the road to help fill the coffers.-Crime will rise, especially serious ones, as people hard on their luck get more desperate.-The job market in the LV will also remain stagnant, although it will still be better than in most other areas.-The Postal Service will drop Saturday deliveryAll in all, some good, some bad.

It's a myth about the influx of residents from NY/NJ. We really didn't get a large increase. The prices of homes in the Valley were always cheaper than NY/NJ and that's because of the median income. The biggest reason people moved here during the bubble years was because when the average NJ/NY homes doubled from say 250k to 500k the commuters were SOL. Our prices doubled from around 100k to 235k which was actually worse than NY/NY. Now the average home is around 165k which is around 1/3 cheaper and it's still falling. Before the bubble is over prices will be back to late 90's levels. The double dip is coming and will make the current recession seem like a walk in the park. It still amazes me how foolish people are spending 1k-2k for rentals. I know multiple homes/townhomes/apartments that are sitting empty for months priced until 1k. We have not seen nothing yet!

[LifetimeLocal]

Originally Posted by sp2007

Lehigh Valley will continue to be the fastest growing (by population) area of Pennsylvania.

No way. Ask teachers how their class rooms are getting smaller because alot of people are moving back to NJ/NY after realizing it's not really cheaper in the long run commuting and you have no life. Another reason is the job market sucks and foreclosures are skyrocketing.

[sp2007]

Originally Posted by LifetimeLocal

No way. Ask teachers how their class rooms are getting smaller because alot of people are moving back to NJ/NY after realizing it's not really cheaper in the long run commuting and you have no life. Another reason is the job market sucks and foreclosures are skyrocketing.

Oh its true. Check out the Census page itself if you don't believe me.
Population Estimates (http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2008-states.html - broken link)

However, saying that the LV is the fastest growing area of the state doesn't amount to much. Places like Pitt or Philly lost 100,000s of people. Fortunately they have a 1,000 burbs with increases in their metros that make up for the loss.

Between 2000 and 2008, the Census estimates that 60,000 people moved into Lehigh and Northhampton counties. Unless they all came from NJ and they all moved back in the last 12 months.

[danwxman]

Originally Posted by sp2007

Oh its true. Check out the Census page itself if you don't believe me.
Population Estimates (http://www.census.gov/popest/cities/SUB-EST2008-states.html - broken link)

However, saying that the LV is the fastest growing area of the state doesn't amount to much. Places like Pitt or Philly lost 100,000s of people. Fortunately they have a 1,000 burbs with increases in their metros that make up for the loss.

Between 2000 and 2008, the Census estimates that 60,000 people moved into Lehigh and Northhampton counties. Unless they all came from NJ and they all moved back in the last 12 months.

Philadelphia did not lose "100,000s" of people. As a matter of fact, the population decline has slowed and probably reversed itself. I expect somewhere between a 1% growth and -1% decline from 2000 to 2010. Basically about the same as 2000.

[sp2007]

Sure, don't let facts and things get in your way... read the Census link I supplied.