So income has gone up double, but housing prices have increased by 5 times? Not to worry, rich people will buy all the houses.
I'm still amazed and astounded by the reactions I get in my store from visitors. The comment, "It's happening were I come from, too." The comment, "We're thinking about moving here."
And then, when I question their knowledge of the local conditions, the realization that they don't have a friggen clue!
Perhaps when it comes to the crunch, they come to their senses. But I have a sinking feeling that they are moving here willy nilly, thinking they are going to get a comparable job to the one they left, and sitting pretty on a nest egg of equity.
So the question becomes. How long does it take for them to lose their nest egg?
Bend just keeps sucking up all that cash. And the longer the newcomers are oblivious, the longer high-end retail keeps opening. (Not one, but two bookstores opening in Redmond?)
I think we are only on the very beginnings of the downturn, certainly not the end. I think it's going to be another year before it becomes common knowledge. How that can be when it's on every news program and in every news publication I can't explain. Like I said, talk to the tourists....
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
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So income has gone up double, but housing prices have increased by 5 times?
If you used beef, gas, electricity, or just about any other consumable, people would be instantly aware of what a vast reduction in purchasing power this is. At some point, people will realize that they have no purchasing power here. They'll leave.
But now? Man, I'm astonished at the cluelessness.
I mean, seriously, do reporters go out and look for the most clueless people they can find, or are these bozo's representative?
"They paid $431,000 for the three-story condo in 2005 -- a hefty price in most markets. But with home values soring in Southern California, they figured it wouldn't take long to build enough equity for a down payment..."
"Houses out here are almost like a 401(k) plan...it grows and grows until you get older and you need it...."
Like Magic!!!!
These people are allowed to walk around with money in their pockets?
They get driver's licenses? They have.....shudder....kids?
Speaking of high-end retail: I took my first 'walk through' of Bend's largest(?) & newest mausoleum; Franklin Crossing and, as I was walking out noticed the ultra slick, apparently high-end cosmetic(?) shop with absolutely no customers. FC has huge vacant retail and office spaces just sitting there waiting for "high-end" tenants. And the atrium felt like one of those old European tombs that echo with each step. The carrying cost for this big boy must be huge. "High-end" tourists aren't going to be the ones keeping this project alive - so who which set of "clueless" folks will?
I walked through it with my kids on Sunday, and had the same reaction. Three spaces rented on the ground floor, (one of them a real estate office....). Three spaces unrented. After, what, a year?
One thing that never, and I mean never ceases to amaze me, is how many people do such little (or no) homework when moving to Central Oregon. Be it weather, real estate trends, job market...whatever. They get exactly what they deserve.
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