El Paso Real Estate - High Ratings By Money Mag for 2007-08 (West: low income, real estate market)

[EnjoyEP]

An article was pointed out in the Albuquerque forum today that Fortune rated the best places to own real estate. The good news...drum roll...is that El Paso comes in #2 in the NATION on the list! They project El Paso real estate to rise 7.1% in value in 2007 and 4.4% in value in 2008. So for those who own a home in El Paso - or have thoughts of perhaps selling one this year or next, you are well positioned.

The median house price is $124,410...which considering some of the higher ticket houses in the West Side / Upper Valley - is just extraordinarily affordable still compared to many US markets.

Here is the top 10 List as well as other cities' rankings:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/12/20/maga...ion=2006122106

*(The subject for this thread is incorrect...it wasn't Money Magazine...it was Fortune - sorry for the error)

[holmes]

Wow this is great news! Not that I ever plan on selling my house, but good to know its value will only be going up in the next few years.

[Logan]

there is a massive correction now taking shape in the country at this point. This will have an effect everywhere because a lot of people who could qualify for mortgages in 2006 will no longer be in the market. In addition those who did take out these risky loans, and there was many, will be hitting the market with foreclosures. This will affect supply and demand and is projected to lower housing prices. I feel El Paso will be affected since there was a lot of speculation in housing in our market by investors, plus El Paso's low income base was a target for many of these subprime loans.

[lipbalm]

Originally Posted by Logan

there is a massive correction now taking shape in the country at this point. This will have an effect everywhere because a lot of people who could qualify for mortgages in 2006 will no longer be in the market. In addition those who did take out these risky loans, and there was many, will be hitting the market with foreclosures. This will affect supply and demand and is projected to lower housing prices. I feel El Paso will be affected since there was a lot of speculation in housing in our market by investors, plus El Paso's low income base was a target for many of these subprime loans.

Even though El Paso is low income for the most part, there is a considerable % of the population that have wealth. Many "rich" mexican nationals own various properties in and around the city. Security for themselves, and their families is the main reason for relocating to El Paso since being wealthy in Mexico can be very dangerous (kidnappings for ransom very common). My point is this; I have always suspected that alot of the dirving force for the housing market in El Paso were these type of people, and as more and more buy into the city since the security in Mexico wont improve anytime soon, will keep prices from sliding at least.

[Logan]

You didnt need to be wealthy to get into those $500,000 to $750,000 homes on the Westside. You could have been making less than $20,000 and still qualified for those homes. All affordable until these loans reset to a higher rate.

[jfe]

How is that good news?

It means more property taxes

[EnjoyEP]

Originally Posted by jfe

How is that good news?

It means more property taxes

But it also means that the value of your house is worth quite a bit more in resale. So if you bought a house in 2004 for $100K, all of a sudden you are sitting on a rather nice investment should you decide to sell.

Surely there are pros and cons to houses / properties going up in value or going down/standing pat, yet, at the end of the day, in this tenuous real estate market where bubbles are bursting all over typically it is ideal for a home owner to have their home value increasing rather than the alternative.

[holmes]

I'd rather pay a little extra in property taxes and have my home increase in value than its value remain stagnant. Really I dont see the problem unless someone bought a house they obviously can't afford in the first place.

[malamute]

"I'd rather pay a little extra in property taxes and have my home increase in value than its value remain stagnant."

Not I. Unless you're planning to sell your house, the property taxes don't make it better at all -- and property taxes are ridiculous in El Paso and always going up.

If you like living where you're living and don't wish to sell it does you no good at all to have prices climb so high.

[malamute]

"Many "rich" mexican nationals own various properties in and around the city."

Yes -- especially those $3 and $4 million houses they start building and then when the FBI starts poking around just sit idle and don't get finished.

The big big money is all from Mexico -- like you said moving over for the better security they feel here.