Shift in Housing Markets Explained
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Redeveloped downtowns, apartments and more affordable smaller homes are coming into vogue. Big backyards, unbridled spending and buying into long commutes are leaving town. Just as the housing market boom left its mark on the economy and the nation’s way of life, the new real estate market of flat and falling sales and prices is reversing those trends, often creating simpler, less complicated lifestyles. |
People are trading in big back yards for balconies, just as they’ve traded in boom boxes for iPods. Often young professionals and the older “echo boomers” (Baby Boomers’ kids), the new generation of home buyers, are choosing more affordable downtown living in high rises, close to jobs and cultural centers. They are marrying later and putting off child rearing so they don’t generate pressure to move into a big house. Likewise, older boomers who’ve redefined retirement are snatching up smaller digs to keep going in work and at play. Condo conversions underscore that demand as second home buyers, investors and speculators all move to snatch up compact housing.
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