The Real Estate Gold Rush? Has It Come and Gone?
Well, if you read the New York Times, you might get that impression. And it does make you stop and think for a moment…..Has the real estate gold rush come and gone?
Today’s issue of the NYTimes has an articled titled, “Housing Fades As A Means To Build Wealth,” and it talks about the future of real estate as a means for accumulating wealth my be and era that is gone.
“There is no iron law that real estate must appreciate,” said Stan Humphries, chief economist for the real estate site Zillow. “All those theories advanced during the boom about why housing is special — that more people are choosing to spend more on housing, that more people are moving to the coasts, that we were running out of usable land — didn’t hold up.”
It gives one the idea that we should still buy real estate. Afterall, we DO have to have a place to live, right? But it just may not provide the wealth it once did.
Some interesting food for thought. I look at my home as a place where I will be able to spend my later years. I am hopeful it will rise in value. (It did, but it kind went in reverse as many homeowners have experienced) And yes, I did use an equity line for other things, and so I’ll be working my ass off to pay that off and get back to more solid ground. I’d like to think I’ll be able to sell it one day, net some money and move onto something different.
But as I get older, my values are certainly changing. I have a friend that will know exactly what I am talking about when I think of the simplicity of my life if I had a home like this…..
