Anyone else here had the value of their home go UP in the last year?

[Speck Tater]

We hear about the plunging value of housing all over the country, but what about those areas where prices are not falling?

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/mar2008/bw20080313_093883.htm?campaign_id=rss_null

In my own home town (a college town) house prices have gone up by 4% in the last 12 months, so the problem is not universal. I was just wondering how many DUers are like myself and find themselves in one of the lucky regions where houses did not hyper-inflate to begin with, and are still a good value.

[DS1]

1. I would imagine places that are closer to mass transit stops like train stations

for commuter rail will increase quite a bit due to gasoline prices.

[TransitJohn]

2. Me.

Wyoming in general has been undergoing a housing crunch for about a decade...due to the booming mineral economy. Plus, I live in Laramie, which has always been a tight housing market, due to having the State's only university. My house went up in valuation from 136k when I bought it a year and 3/4 ago to 142k this year. Taxes went up from around 850 to 1100 dollars. It sucks.

[juajen]

3. The value of housing in Lafayette, LA has been going up and

our economy is in good shape. So far, so good.

[Buzz Clik]

4. ... only in the eyes of the tax assessor.

[kestrel91316]

5. I don't own a home, and never will again at this rate. Rents here

are still skyrocketing. Gotta house the foreclosed, displaced former homeowners somewhere, and they aren't building many apartments here, mostly just "luxury" condos. So apartment rents are way up. I pay $1235 for an 800 sf 1-BR in a decent (not super-nice) neighborhood, and am glad to pay so little.

[dmallind]

6. Slightly, yes

Bought at $320K in Lincoln NE late 06, selling for $330K this month. We did add a fence and repaint the hallway, but that ain't gonna get $10K.

Meanwhile I'm buying in a region which is flat overall, with some ups and some downs in various neighborhoods and price brackets. Bought an only slightly less nice house in Buffalo burbs for $230K. I'm in a decent income bracket and that's a 4br nice house on a big lot. Viable fixer uppers in parts of Buffalo area can be bought for $40K. Move in for $80K. In the burbs low three figures can get you a smaller but perfectly pleasant single family home. If you can get a job here it's a decent housing market for entry level homes. Property taxes are some of the nation's highest averaging about 3% per year, but rolled into the mortgage payment as most people do a Buffalo area house will still cost you much less than most comparable cities.

Of course losing a good chunk of your employers and about 30% of your propulation in the last 25 years or so will do that to a market I guess, so it's all relative.

[BeFree]

7. Yes

Went from $29 to 31g.

The reason other places are falling is partly because the prices were driven higher by speculators financed by bear-stearns type corps and just plain stupid people buying way more house than they could afford.

Too, you can bet the sub-prime mess is a mask for just plain thievery.

[notadmblnd]

8. I looked at this years assessment

My taxable value went up by 760.00 but my SEV is down by 7540.00. What I'm wondering is; if the value of my home went down, why did the taxable value go up?

[Nay]

9. In Richmond, VA, prices went up about 3-4% last year. Houses take

a bit longer to sell, but they were selling in a WEEK before -- now it might take a couple of months. In my neighborhood, prices have held, most likely because we are close to downtown and have shopping within a mile. Very convenient location, and quiet, too.

Edited to add that decent jobs are still available here, and pay for any skilled job is OK. No skills, crappy wages.

[AllyCat]

10. Only as far as the assessor's office is concerned. Nothing moving in our area. n/t

[Auggie]

11. In the last month San Francisco County was the only one up in the Bay Area

Not surprisingly, every other inflated county was down.

[Quakerfriend]

12. Yes, just NW of Phila. We bought in Dec 06 and our house

value is currently avg 10% higher than what we paid for it. Houses in our neighborhood now take ~6mos to sell, as compared to days-weeks during the boom.

[truedelphi]

13. What college town are you close to?

I imagine that college towns are a good bet.

THere's been a view that Baby Boomers will retiure to college towns - and I saw that happening way back in 1994 in Eugene/Springfield OR area.

People who were rtetiring inplaces like LA found their dolalr bought more in Eugene. House prices were about 60% less than that area of the world also.

Besides that, as the Amer. dollar drops in value, foreigners will double up in terms of the numbers of their kids sent here for a college education.

[Lucky Luciano]

14. NYC is through the roof and rocketing

...but that may come to an end soon as the Wall St guys are feeling the pinch with all the shares of their companies they received in their bonuses are now worht much less...and as for the poor guys at Bear Stearns that may have had 5 to 10MM (There were many) in Bear Stearns last year....are now worth only a few hundred thousand. Other companies are hurting too. That said, the weak dollar increases housing prices here as the Europeans swoop in for the cut rate deals they can get in NYC and all the super cheap shopping on Fifth Avenue. The European Central Bank is finally starting to feel the pressure to cut interest rates which would strenghten the dollar vs the euro and could slow down that trend. I believe NYC apartments were up 14% last year. I am still a renter. I live in a very nice building in a 500 sq foot studio and I pay $3,000 per month...and my rent is being raised to $3,200 in a couple months - I will feel the squeeze as my compensation last year was a total shit show compared to 2006, my first year of employment. In 2007, my second year, I eanred half of what I earned in 2006. That stings...and after taxes I may have nothing left. You really need to make a $500K after taxes to be comfortable here since nice two bedrooms in good clean new high rises go for $6,000 per month or so. Insane how expensive it all is.

[drexel dave]

16. I live in a 1500 sq. ft. loft and pay $400 per month

with all utilities paid.

Gotta' love Dayton, Ohio.

[fasttense]

15. I live in a very rural area

and though the value of my home actually dropped, the value of my 15 acres went up. So in the end it all came out the same.

If the economy fails I can at least hunt, fish, grow vegetables and raise animals to eat.