The housing bubble is bursting, home value prices are plummeting, the real estate market’s crashing! Sound familiar? As it turns out, these predictions were based on the national market, and while it has definitely slowed down, rumors of a crash are greatly exaggerated. Besides, when it comes right down to it, knowing the national home value price and average time of sale isn’t going to do you much good when you’re thinking of buying or selling. (But if you’re curious, the median home value in the U.S. was about $221,900 in 2006.) When it comes time for a real estate transaction, remember buying or selling a home is always an investment. It’s important to choose an area where your investment is going to grow over the years.
To get a true idea of how a particular area’s real estate market will do over the next few years, or to try and predict whether home value prices will go up or down, it’s important to look at the area you’re in or moving to. Taking a look at past home sales and home value averages is important, but just as important is looking into that area’s economy, employment opportunities and attractions to outside visitors. These factors can give you a gist of whether home value averages will be on the rise in a given area.
Nebraska (capital city: Lincoln) is well know for its spacious plains and outdoor adventures. For a farm-centric state, Nebraska is fairly well populated at 1,768,331 residents. Nebraska has a strong agricultural economy based on cattle, hogs, corn, soybeans, wheat and sorghum, while its main industries include food processing, machinery, electric equipment and printing and publishing. Unlike most states, Nebraska does not have a strong tourism industry, though that doesn’t mean people aren’t visiting! With rivers, lakes and wide open plains, Nebraska is an outdoorsman’s dream. Visitors to Nebraska can live the simple life hiking, biking, boating, camping and fishing, or visiting one of the various national parks in the state. History buffs can follow the path of Lewis and Clark or other adventurous pioneers and relive the spirit and adventure of the frontier. Nebraska is also known for it’s archaeological discoveries and the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is a popular place to tour.
With two major cities relatively close together (Lincoln and Omaha), Nebraska also has an exciting nightlife to offer , with fine dining, breweries, wineries, clubs, theaters to fill the nights and museums, zoos, gardens and parks to visit in the daytime. Though Nebraska may not be as huge a tourism front as other states, there is still plenty to do when visiting the Cornhusker state. Their steady real estate market proves that tourism isn’t everything when it comes to steady home value averages and sales.
Most likely Nebraska’s recent low unemployment rate of 2.8% along with job opportunities rising in non-farm industries, especially education & health and leisure & hospitality sectors have contributed to a balanced real estate market. The fact that Nebraska’s median household income is pretty high by national standards at about $47,900 in 2005 while it’s median home value in 2007 has been as low as $156,731 is sure to have an effect on the market as well. Anywhere with job opportunities, low cost of living and housing, and high incomes is bound to be a popular relocation spot for many, which again will help keep home value averages and the real estate market pretty steady in Nebraska.
Most of Nebraska seems to be in a buyer’s market at this point according to many real estate agents in the Omaha and Lincoln areas. In Lincoln the demand for higher-end residential homes has slowed, but houses with an average home value of about $200,000 are still moving at a good pace. In Omaha there are plenty of new and existing homes available and the average time a home spent on a market was about 56 days. All in all, Nebraska’s real estate market has not experienced as much of a lag as most of the rest of the nation. Though home value prices did take a bit of a hit, things are picking up in the early part of the summer of 2007.
Ashley Lichty is a webmaster and the resident SEO of Web Xtreme, Inc. She has a background in real estate and marketing with an emphasis in writing.
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