Partially, but gas prices came down and groceries didn't much. This year is slightly lower than a year ago, but not by a noticeable amount.

Don't forget about the tractors needed to farm it.


Wheels

That's because wealthy foreign investors aren't gobbling up all the property there.

I can't personally speak for the rest of the "hotter markets" in America, but if the San Francisco Bay Area is any indication that's what's REALLY driving prices up.

If you're renting anywhere there it's very unlikely these days (and for the past 20 years for that matter) that you're not renting from a wealthy immigrant.

So when people say "supply and demand' (as I did in this very thread) it's a bit incorrect - it's a glut of MONEY chasing after a limited commodity (just like when the speculative investors spiked up gas prices).

There's no actual physical shortage of housing compared to the number of people in the area.

There are actually thousands of vacant houses - some quite new. I'm not getting this information online - I have physically seen this with my eyes.

You are absolutely correct Zamzow. Miami has the same issue with houses and especially condos being bought by wealthy foreign investors (mostly Russians and Brazilians) and thus driving up the real estate market.

Vancouver has/had the same problem > B.C. introduced a 15 per cent tax on foreign buyers.

Of course that 15% extra tax is just financial opportunism by the local government. They know that the wealthy Chinese and Russian investors buying up property in Vancouver won't be discouraged from future purchases.



Let's be honest here, local and provincial/state governments PREFER it when property values are really high. Why? Because higher property values means more property tax revenue.

It's property taxes on top of housing costs that's. killer for me in NJ.

I mean I love reasonably close to NY city where you can commute in by train in 40 minutes or so. My 4 bedroom house with a very tiny lot of backyard was $600,000. Then I am paying property taxes of $14,000 a year.

Even if you drive like 40 minutes south from me away from the city, south Jersey equivalent hoise with a much bigger lot goes down to like $450k with property taxes under $10k.

If I compare those to housing when I used to live in Cincinnati, I would practically be in a mansion there.

That's because Cincinnati is for the most part a dump and most people wouldn't want to live there.

Let's also be honest about the fact that most homeowners sure don't mind finding out their home is now worth multiples of what they paid (or are paying) for it.

The real problem is all the homes that are gobbled up solely for the purpose of renting them out. Eliminate that and watch the REAL price of what homes should be emerge (as can be seen in markets where this practice is NOT so pervasive).

Then APARTMENTS get cheaper too - which then means more people can eventually afford to BUY a home.