The Real Estate View from the Eiffel Tower

OK - I don't really know what the real estate market is like in France, but since I am headed there on vacation tomorrow, I felt compelled to make some mention of Paris... With the way the exchange rates are these days (1.23 Dollars for every Euro), I'm sure real estate in France is quite costly for us Americans.

Now back to business. I ran across a presentation from David Lereah, the Chief Economist for NAR (National Association of Realtors). His presentation, "The Real Story About Today's Real Estate Boom",from the 2005 NAR Leadership Summit, has some great insight and statistics on the current state of the real estate market here in the US. While I don't want to bore you with percentages and statistics, I did find one section of his report that is particularly interesting. Mr. Lereah's report groups various geographic areas across the country into the following real estate categories: 1)Established & Growing, 2) Quality Job Centers but Declining Affordability, 3) Desirable but Experiencing Affordability Issues, 4)Young & Energetic, 5)High Tech Swing Cities, 6)Not Yet on Radar, 7)Growing Neighbors.

1) Established & Growing (low cost labor, favorable job creating climate, low home price, active home building):

• Dallas - Ft.Worth
• Charlotte
• Atlanta
• Orlando
• Houston
• Tampa-St.Petersburg

2) Quality Job Centers but Declining Affordability (high paying jobs with net positive migration; home prices getting expensive):

• Washington DC
• San Diego
• Orange County
• Nassau-Suffolk

3) Desirable but Experiencing Affordability Issues (high paying jobs; but net negative migration due to high home prices):

• San Francisco
• New York
• Boston

4) Young & Energetic (strong in-migration trends):

• Boise
• Sarasota
• Ft. Myers
• Las Vegas
• Phoenix
• Jacksonville

5) High-Tech Swing Cities (educated workforce, quality of living on rise, net positive migration, high-tech meltdown to high-tech resurgence):

• Seattle
• Austin
• Raleigh-Durham
• San Jose
• Denver

6) Not Yet on Radar (up and coming and little known ocean destinations):

• Wilmington, NC
• Charleston, SC
• Myrtle Beach, SC
• Panama City, FL
• Pensacola, FL
• Port St. Lucie, FL
• Mobile, AL
• Virginia Beach, VA

7) Growing Neighbors (affordable relative to pricey neighbors. Riding the high-tide of its neighbor):

• Riverside-San Bernardino
• Baltimore
• Sacramento
• Providence

Just seeing how different the various markets are across the country, it is easy to see that real estate market conditions truly depend on where you live.

Bon Jour!

Myron