there are some places that I just wouldn’t want to live, no matter how cheap it was. Utah would be on the list of “places I’d rather not live”….
there’s a reason why it’s cheap there…no one wants to live there….
i think the reason we’ve seen massive price increases in areas that originally were NOT hot spots – like Vegas, Phoenix, etc… was that all the CA folks who cashed out headed east. Also, people who were finally ready to buy but couldn’t stomach CA prices, may have gone east to find a suitable/affordable place to buy/live.
as the boom ENDS in so cal and prices start to fall….you’ll see less people leaving. maybe even see people come back. as that happens, the bubble may pop out in those less desireable places too…
you just have to wonder WHY some of these places exploded…I mean do people REALLY want to live in Phoenix…..or did they go there b/c it was a compromise. They didn’t like the desert heat (aka HELL in summer) – but liked the fact that they coudl buy a great house at a good price….so they “settled”. had prices been “normal” in so cal they would have stayed/bought in so cal.
as prices get back to normal…i wonder if the trend will reverse…
all things equal..i can’t see how anyone in their right mind would live in Phoenix over San Diego. but they aren’t equal..housing prices are WAY different…as that differnce shrinks….which I think it will to some extent….what will happen to the people who bought in Phoenix and rode the wave up..they too may see prices cool/fall….piles of inventory….