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Western Real Estate: From Zoom to Bust

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Your Survival Guy’s takeaway from the decline of home prices in the west and their rise in the east is that it’s all relative. The boom/zoom times of the west were massive. Now affordability rules the roost. Every penny counts. Find your Super State today. Read more about the changing market from Nicole Friedman, who writes in The Wall Street Journal:

The United States is a country of two housing markets. In one, home prices are falling from a year ago. In the other, they’re still posting annual gains. That division runs right down the center of the U.S.

In all of the 12 major housing markets west of Texas, plus Austin, home prices fell in January on an annual basis, according to mortgage-data firm  Black Knight Inc.’s home-price index. In the 37 biggest metro areas east of Colorado, except Austin, home prices rose year-over-year.

This pattern of geographical disparity is highly unusual, if not unprecedented, housing analysts say. “We’ve never seen anything quite like this where it’s so stark, west to east,” said Andy Walden, vice president of enterprise research strategy at Black Knight.

After more than two years in which the pandemic-driven housing boom and low mortgage rates boosted prices in every corner of the U.S., from big cities to small towns, the country’s housing markets are now diverging, responding increasingly to local factors such as affordability, supply and job growth.

Certain housing markets in the West have enjoyed long price run-ups since the 1990s, when the rapid growth of the technology industry fueled a housing market boom. Now, the cities most closely associated with tech have the fastest falling home prices. San Jose, Calif., and San Francisco home prices were down more than 10% from a year earlier in January, and Seattle prices fell 7.5%.

In the Eastern half of the U.S., Florida and other Southern markets are still attracting companies and adding jobs. Orlando home prices were up 9.3%, while Miami prices rose 12%, the top increase among the 50 biggest metro areas. A slew of financial companies moved to Miami in 2021 and 2022, and their employees are still arriving, said Judy Zeder, an agent with the Jills Zeder Group at Coldwell Banker Realty in Miami.

“We still have a lot of buyers who are here that we still can’t find homes for,” she said.

Action Line: Start your search for a better America today with my 2023 Super States. And click here to sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.
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