Population slightly down in MA 2022 (Boston, Worcester: townhomes, buying, live in)

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

Housing costs is hemming up Boston as a city- really constraining its abilities to function as anything other than an economic incubator… but there’s a huge % of people who want housing costs to remain prohibitively expensive. I’d say you’re one of those people- however, you may not identify that way, I’d say most folks don’t identify that way even if it’s them. That’s the rub and that’s where Boston is.

And I'd say you'd be one of those people also if you had a nice house in the area. Who wouldn't?

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by msRB311

I still don't see how me not wanting forests being knocked down for loads of affordable housing developments to be built is the reason why an average home is now 1M. I put the blame on all the corporate industries that rushed to set up shop in Boston...i think the office shops need to be more distributed throughout the state and country. It shouldn't matter where someone's office is anymore and thankfully more people are starting to see this.

You don’t see it and a million other people don’t either- and it’s a negative feedback loop. It’s been explained here ad nauseam.

[BostonBornMassMade]

Originally Posted by redplum33

And I'd say you'd be one of those people also if you had a nice house in the area. Who wouldn't?

I wouldn’t, I’m not inclined that way. I’m just not. I’m not motivated by money much. I’d never even want.

Anyways I’m final rounds of the interviewing process for the assistant planner position for a south shore town (and yes, there is a money motivation for that) We’ll see how it goes- the thing so heard in my initial my review were already pretty frustrating lol.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

And I'd say you'd be one of those people also if you had a nice house in the area. Who wouldn't?

Originally Posted by BostonBornMassMade

I wouldn’t, I’m not inclined that way. I’m just not. I’m not motivated by money much. I’d never even want.

Anyways I’m final rounds of the interviewing process for the assistant planner position for a south shore town (and yes, there is a money motivation for that) We’ll see how it goes- the thing so heard in my initial my review were already pretty frustrating lol.

I hope you get the job.

And I have to say I find it hard to believe that you (or anyone) wouldn't be one of those people.

You work your butt off for years and years and years to finally be able to make the purchase. The largest purchase of your life that you made many sacrifices in order to pull it off. You telling me that you'd be ok with the value dropping 30-40%? I certainly wouldn't.

[simplexsimon]

Is there evidence of declines in value in HCOL areas due to additional housing units being built? From my observations of the SF Bay Area it hasn’t happened. Yes prices are down now compared to peak but more due to tech layoffs than supply creeping up to meet demand.

Yes, they have other issues related to overpopulation.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by simplexsimon

Is there evidence of declines in value in HCOL areas due to additional housing units being built?

Good question that I don't have an answer to.

It seems to be common sense, though, that values would decline if the supply increased substantially.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by redplum33

And I'd say you'd be one of those people also if you had a nice house in the area. Who wouldn't?

Me, for one. I'm trying to understand why you would care, given you already have your house and (assuming) a fixed rate mortgage? You are always going to need a place to live, regardless. And no housing prices are not at all likely to drop 30-40%, but a 10% correction is certainly plausible. That's not going to make your neighborhood any less "nice".

[msRB311]

it's been a while since a neighborhood in the Boston area has 'gone bad'. I wonder if we'll ever see that happen again.

[redplum33]

Originally Posted by redplum33

And I'd say you'd be one of those people also if you had a nice house in the area. Who wouldn't?

Originally Posted by massnative71

Me, for one. I'm trying to understand why you would care, given you already have your house and (assuming) a fixed rate mortgage? You are always going to need a place to live, regardless. And no housing prices are not at all likely to drop 30-40%, but a 10% correction is certainly plausible. That's not going to make your neighborhood any less "nice".

1. Nobody wants to see a major purchase drop a significant amount.

2. As you mentioned in a different thread, sometimes things happen that are out of your control and you need to sell.

And I disagree re: 30-40% and 10%. Depends on the price and location. Plenty of these 2 million dollar houses could easily drop to 1.2 to 1.4 million - even without any additional housing built.

You don't think the typical million dollar house in MA couldn't drop to 700k? I don't see why not. That's where most of them were just a couple years ago.

[massnative71]

Originally Posted by redplum33

1. Nobody wants to see a major purchase drop a significant amount.

Say you bought in 2019. Even if it dropped substantially from 2023 to 2024, you're still likely to be ahead of the game. If you just bought in 2022, then you bought with the understanding that things are way overinflated right now and are presumably prepared to take a hit at least in the near future.

Originally Posted by redplum33

2. As you mentioned in a different thread, sometimes things happen that are out of your control and you need to sell.

Also expanding on the points above, if your home value falls then in theory the house you want to purchase has as well so chances are it's a wash.

Originally Posted by redplum33

And I disagree re: 30-40% and 10%. Depends on the price and location. Plenty of these 2 million dollar houses could easily drop to 1.2 to 1.4 million - even without any additional housing built.

You don't think the typical million dollar house in MA couldn't drop to 700k? I don't see why not. That's where most of them were just a couple years ago.

I'm talking about prices overall. The typical home. Of course homes at the top of the market stand to take a bigger hit.