Jacksonville #3 Most Overpriced Market

[mtraininjax]

Houses are like other assets, only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.

[JaxNative68]

tell that to the people still trying to sell their houses for what the purchased them for a couple of years ago.

[mtraininjax]

tell that to the people still trying to sell their houses for what the purchased them for a couple of years ago.

Like I said, people will only buy assets for what they are worth TODAY, forget a couple of years ago. Heck Gold was 600 bucks an ounce a couple of years ago and its well over 1000 bucks now. Perhaps the people who bought homes should have bought gold with their great wealth.

[JaxNative68]

talkin' to the choir

[BridgeTroll]

Apparently people forgot that a house is a long term investment.  Buying and selling over the short term increases your risk of loss.  Stay in your home for twenty years and you are likely to profit.

[Dog Walker]

Apparently people forgot that a house is a long term investment.  Buying and selling over the short term increases your risk of loss.  Stay in your home for twenty years and you are likely to profit.

Half right, half wrong.  Houses are a place to LIVE not an investment and if you stay in it long enough you will sell it for more than you paid for it.

[BridgeTroll]

Notice I said...

Stay in your home for twenty years and you are likely to profit.

[Dog Walker]

That's the half that's right!  My point was that looking on a house as an investment, one that you can "cash in" or borrow against, is one of the things that got our economy into its' present mess.

[Bativac]

Like I said, people will only buy assets for what they are worth TODAY, forget a couple of years ago. Heck Gold was 600 bucks an ounce a couple of years ago and its well over 1000 bucks now. Perhaps the people who bought homes should have bought gold with their great wealth.

Not to derail the thread - but from what I've heard (and this feeds into the "supply and demand" comment that Seadog made), gold is set to take a big drop in value, too. Recent rises in gold prices have resulted in a proliferation of "gold parties" (where attendees sell off their gold to a "gold buyer") and gold purchasing companies. People are selling so much of their gold at inflated prices that the bottom is bound to drop out of the gold market any day now, just like it did for real estate (though presumably not such a giant drop).

The lesson being exactly what Mtrain mentioned earlier -- assets are worth only what someone is willing to pay for them. The $300K homes in Jacksonville that prospective new homeowners think are only "worth $100k" are gonna sit on the market until A) another sucker comes along or B) the market creeps back up.

[finehoe]

Interestingly, the just released 6th Annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey shows Jacksonville as the 14th MOST affordable market in the US:

http://www.newgeography.com/content/001369-housing-unaffordability-public-policy-the-new-demographia-international-housing-affor

[BridgeTroll]

Great article finehoe...

Interestingly...

As in the five previous Surveys, there is a close relationship between housing unaffordability and categories of land use regulation. Virtually all severely unaffordable markets are characterized by “more prescriptive” land use regulation policies (also called “compact city,” “urban consolidation,” “growth management,” or “smart growth”). At the same time, the affordable markets overwhelmingly have “more responsive” land use regulation, in which new residential development is demand driven.

[buckethead]

So are you saying that municipalites which do not inhibit sprawl are more likely to offer a greater supply of affordable housing?

This cannot be!

[BridgeTroll]

It is heresey here for sure...   I am sure that a happy medium could be devised... but I am also sure that there were planners in the severely unaffordable areas thought so too.

This is an issue that I am not sure has been addresses by our resident experts...

[tufsu1]

So are you saying that municipalites which do not inhibit sprawl are more likely to offer a greater supply of affordable housing?

This cannot be!

regarding housing only, yes....and sadly people rarely look at the whole picture....for example, the Tampa Bay area has relatively low housing costs too, but leads the nation in % of income devoted to housing/transportation combined.

think about it...the saying used to be "drive until you qualify"...but those transportation costs add up real quick....on the opposite end are places like Boston, New York, and San Fran that have astronomiucal housing costs but relatively low transportation costs.

[BridgeTroll]

but those transportation costs add up real quick

No doubt.  I would venture a guess that housing cost outpaces transportation costs by a large margin.  If cost is your main housing concern then "you drive until you qualify".