The End of Suburban Communities no comments
The housing crush has had a range of side effects across the nation. However, with more and more new home developments struggling to fill the new properties, a new phenomenon has appeared. There are fewer and fewer new suburban developments showing up on the fringes of communities. Expansion that was so rampant in the real estate boom has suddenly disappeared or stalled midproject, leaving empty houses gaping at passerbys.
Some of these communities are filled with homes that are in foreclosure which makes it harder to sell a home next door. Home owners have vacant lots next to them and they need to stop foreclosure themselves.
What are the pros and cons to the recent disappearance of these suburban communities? Besides the obvious financial troubles with the construction companies associated with these areas, there is an impact for the local homeowners as well.
With fewer inhabitants and stalled increases in the homeowners to these commuter communities, morning commutes into the city are less than what might have been if these suburban areas had filled. Enticed by lower prices and more house available through these suburban communities, more and more homeowners looked to purchase these properties during the real estate boom years. However, as the real estate market has stopped, these homes are not being filled, making the commute to the city a little easier.
Areas like Prince William Count have shown the impact of this suburban community disappearance. With a deflated real estate market and increasing gas prices, the foreclosures have pushed median home prices down 32 percent in just the last year alone. Fewer individuals are on the interstate and more are crushed into crowded buses headed to
Washington D.C. This area of the county has seen the impact of tightened credit restrictions and fewer buyers. The bubble has popped here and the impact was swift and sudden.
Zillow recently performed an analysis of markets to determine what has happened to the inner and outer suburbs in major cities nationwide. What they found was very interesting. Essentially, the prices for inner suburbs, those within a ten mile radius from the center of the city had changed little. However, as the radius grew larger and larger as far as fifty miles from the center of the city, the prices dropped drastically.