What makes home prices fluctuate? There are many underlying reasons why home prices rise and fall but when you get right down
to it is is good old supply and demand. If there are many buyers and few sellers prices will rise because of the scarcity. The converse is also true, if there are many homes on the market and few people want to buy them prices must come down in order to motivate and attract would-be buyers. Economics 101, right?
Home prices around the United States have been declining over the past few years. We haven’t lost population but with the poor economy and tight credit which still prevails there are fewer buyers purchasing homes.
A few days ago a very cool population migration map was brought to my attention. The interactive population map which is presented on forbes.com shows, by county net migration and immigration. The really cool part about this tool is that is shows where the people are going and to what degree. To play with the map yourself go to here. I’d recommend it.
I also am a big fan of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s quarterly housing price index. The index shows how home values have fared in 300 metropolitan areas throughout the United States on a quarterly, 1 year and 5 year basis. It then ranks home price appreciation using that data.
I thought I would see if there was a link between home values and the migration patterns. I hope you find some interest in the following presentation.
After studying it, I am struck by how good our position is here in Boulder County going forward. All predictions show that we are going to continue to gain population. We have a stable economic base. One of the best technology centers around, a vibrant university and a emerging industry to be as ConocoPhillips moves to our area in a few years.
