All over the United States, the housing bubble has burst. Particularly in the Northeast Ohio, area where I reside the affect is quite apparent. Declining housing values, vacant homes, and vandalism harm cities and school districts that all depend on the property tax revenue stream. As a former community development director and real estate agent, I have firsthand experience in the housing arena.
The real estate industry is a critical component in the United States’ economy. There are many jobs tied to the housing industry. Lumber sales, residential and commercial properties, title companies, escrow companies, builders, electricians, plumbers, lending institutions, etc. all play a part in a robust real estate market.
Property taxes supply a huge revenue stream for cities, libraries, parks, and school districts. Those taxes are based on the property value and of course, housing sales. The median sales price of single-family homes in most Cuyahoga County communities continued to decline in the first six months of 2008, compared with the same period a year ago. The price drops, especially in places like Cleveland and inner-ring suburbs, have largely resulted from an abundance of foreclosed homes in the market. The change in price has declined from 25% to 50% and even higher (Plain Dealer, 2009). The very high-end of Northeast Ohio’s real estate market began tampering off mid-summer of 2008. High-end home sales increased in 2007, while sales dropped 8 % in the rest of the market. In totality for all house price ranges, sales peaked in 2005 to 25,075 homes sold down to 13,488 sold in August 2008 (Northeast Ohio Multiple Listing Service, 2008).
The home foreclosure problem is massive. Therefore, many solutions will be necessar...
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...be allowed to place unqualified homeowners in housing that they cannot afford from day one. Standards for mortgage lending are imperative to sustain the housing market. Income versus debt ratios must be enforced along with down payment requirements. And lenders who violate mortgage loan requirements should face stiff penalties and/or jail time. The American economy is driven by supply and demand but it must operate in an ethical environment in order for real prosperity to occur.
The above are but a few suggestions to help with the foreclosure problem; however, organizations and government cannot do it alone. People coming together and helping one another is imperative for our country to get beyond this horrific financial period. Volunteering by the younger generation and senior population together can make a world of difference in many ways.
Leonard, T., & Murdoch, J. C. (2009). The neighborhood effects of foreclosure. Journal of Geographical Systems, 11(4), 317-332. doi:10.1007/s10109-009-0088-6
The housing market is very unique as unlike other goods and services, houses have permanence, it is a fixed location good causing the rules of supply and demand to be taken to new extremes. In the case of the Toronto housing market we can view in almost real time the role supply and demand play on he ever increasing house prices, additionally the fundamental economic issue of scarcity is made extremely apparent by the limited size of the city of Toronto.
... motivation for wealthy individuals to return to the inner-city core but it also provides impetus for commercial and retail mixed-use to follow, increasing local revenue for cities (Duany, 2001). Proponents of gentrification profess that this increase in municipal revenue from sales and property taxes allows for the funding of city improvements, in the form of job opportunities, improved schools and parks, retail markets and increased sense of security and safety ((Davidson (2009), Ellen & O’Reagan (2007), Formoso et. al (2010)). Due to the increase in housing and private rental prices and the general decrease of the affordable housing stock in gentrifying areas, financially-precarious communities such as the elderly, female-headed households, and blue-collar workers can no longer afford to live in newly developed spaces ((Schill & Nathan (1983), Atkinson, (2000)).
We must contact our state congressmen to remind them and tell them what we want. In conclusion, we have determined that the housing crisis that the United States faces today is a huge problem. We have discussed the striking similarities between the Great Depression in the 1920s and 1930s and today's problem. And I have presented my solution to the problem and how I think it should be prevented in the future.
The United States’ government had always had a hand on our country’s housing market. From requiring land ownership to vote, to providing public housing to impoverished families, our government had become an irremovable part of the housing market. The effects of these housing policies can affect American residents in ways they might not even recognize.
According to John Vogel’s article “Thinking Outside the Housing Bubble” published in the US News, the housing area aids in job development and increases the opportunity for employment that will assist the United States in solving the recessi...
To solve the foreclosure crisis we must take a multi-pronged approach that tackles the issues making the situation worse and that caused the problems in the first place. Our goal is to do this in an efficient and time conscious manner. Any solution is going to have its positive and negative aspects but we must try to maximize the former and minimize the latter.
As the lease of my apartment is coming to an end it had me thinking of achieving my own American Dream of home ownership but as I do my research I find the dream is far from coming true. I am sure that the issue of housing prices and rent rates are what most of us Bay Area residents talk about and debate. It is an issue that needs to be addressed by the officials of the area, city mayors, affordable housing committees, social justice activists,lawmakers, and even employers. Skyrocketing prices, low inventory, and investors’ bidding wars are not only pushing the middle and lower classes out of San Francisco and the Bay Area out but will completely eliminate them.
"Real Estate Industry Career Outlook, 2014: More Jobs on the Horizon?" US Housing News RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2014.
Buying or selling a house or an apartment is one of the biggest decisions of a person’s life. And when selling or establishing a price for real estate, people seek out real estate agents to do the dirty work. A real estate agent has to convince a prospective homeowner that he or she is trustworthy and knowledgeable. In many ways, the agent acts as a counselor to individuals and families about to embark on a huge commitment. Real estate agents have a thorough knowledge or real estate market in their community. They
Throughout my research I found there is a real cry out for action on providing more affordable house not just locally but throughout the country. There needs to be more funding available to build more gear to income or subsidized housing and all levels of government need to take action.
Recently, urban development has become increasingly vulnerable to the growing impact of gentrification. Our nation’s capitol, more commonly known Washington, D.C., unfortunately has been heavily affected by gentrification. Gentrification is the process of renovating and improving a house or district, so that it conforms to a certain middle-class taste. This certain exchange of private land is a continuous competing claim between public and private owners. In addition, Kathryn Howell, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth University claims, “In the most recent wave of urban redevelopment, the change has been led largely by public–private partnerships in a market-driven process. … this type of redevelopment represents a perceived ‘win-win’ for
Affordable housing in the United States describes sheltering units with well-adjusted housing costs for those living on an average, median income. The phrase usually implies to applied rental or purchaser housing within the financial means of lower-income ranges specific to the demographics of any given area. However, affordable housing does not include those living in social housing owned by government and non-profit organizations. More specifically, the targeted range for housing affordability sets below 30 percent of a household's annual income, including all applicable taxes, utility costs and home owners insurance rates. If the mean income per household breaches the 30 percent mark, then the agreed status becomes labeled as "unaffordable" by most recognizable financial institutions.
A review of the literature reveals a common theme among experts in this field of study. The recurring themes present is the current literature include the financial crisis of 2008 and foreclosure impacts. Foreclosure impacts include the effects of crime, housing sales, property valuation, property abandonment, neighborhood destabilization, and shifts in tax revenue. The sources of the literature reviewed were scholarly journals, peer-reviewed journals and governmental websites. The foreclosure impacts will be presented as subtopics within the body of this paper.
When prices increase, the quantity decrease (Graph 1) and new firms enter the market in order to make economic profits. However this does not mean the real estate agents or brokers earn more money. On the contrary, the prices they charge may increase, but the number of houses each sell do not change (Goolsbee, 2005, Online). From this it is evident that the price of products in the real estate market is not affected by the entry of new firms.