Commented on that in my original post.

Post #54,501 by inthane-chan 10/2/02 1:23:48 PM Reply	Commented on that in my original post. I'm quite aware that housing prices are overinflated around here, what with the general U.S. econ being in the shitter, and the Pac. NW being even worse. Seattle's home valuations are massively overdone, in some areas probably being 3-5x actual value of house+property if sanity were to return to the market. Example: My mom bought a 2 story+basement 4 bedroom in 1977 for $200k. Sold it in 1988 for $300k after making some improvements. Same house today with no improvements since is worth at least $800k, possibly more. At the same time, growth restriction policies are screwing other folks - my grandparents had 30 acres of land across puget sound in an area called Port Orchard. 20 years ago, valuation was $800,000 - and they just sold two months ago for $250,000, because now their lots can't be subdivided to smaller than 10 acre lots with one house each. End of world rescheduled for day after tomorrow. Something should probably be done. Please advise.
Post #54,508 by drewk 10/2/02 1:57:36 PM Reply	Doesn't add up Regardless of what the real-estate market is doing, it should still cost about the same to build. Given that, wild run-ups in real-estate prices should apply regardless of what is built on the lot, or even if there is anything on the lot. Assuming there are no problems getting utilities and roads put in. What am I missing? === Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978\|Andrew Grygus]
Post #54,510 by inthane-chan 10/2/02 2:06:07 PM Reply	The houses aren't what's causing it. The massive inflation/deflation in prices is based on the utility of the land. Yeah, the houses themselves don't cost all that much - the land is what's causing the price fluctuations. When somebody can't develop the land with as many houses (what happened to my grandparents) the value of the land drops. The other problem is that Seattle has developed a really bad case of sprawl - you can't develop any new lots in the areas where it's actually convenient to commute from. Combine this with a population that is resistant to "new" taxes to pay for any kind of public transit, and you're basically fucked. End of world rescheduled for day after tomorrow. Something should probably be done. Please advise.
Post #54,514 by drewk 10/2/02 2:28:12 PM Reply	OK, I get it. In the 70s that land would be 2 dozen lots. === Microsoft offers them the one thing most business people will pay any price for - the ability to say "we had no choice - everyone's doing it that way." -- [link\|http://z.iwethey.org/forums/render/content/show?contentid=38978\|Andrew Grygus]

Welcome to IWETHEY!