Real Estate Market--current trends and winning markets

"The baby-boomer generation, the largest in American history, will be buying fewer single-family homes." says John F. Wasik of Bloomberg News. I disagree to a point. Yes, as boomers near retirement, many will be selling their larger 4 and 5 bedroom homes in order to purchase condominiums, but many will be purchasing patio homes which are still considered single family homes.

Wasik also says that Generation X buyers (those born between 1965-1976) are not likely to increase housing prices, because there are less of Gen X than Boomers and they are not as wealthy as Boomers.

"The baby boomers are reorganizing their finances after a rocky decade in stocks. They aren’t buying as many second homes and vacation properties in warmer climates", says Wasik. He indentifies certain areas such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Fransisco as areas where recovery will be slow. Wasik sees "more setbacks" in south Florida, and central and Southern California.

However, southeastern states such as North Carolina and areas in Texas such as Austin, Dallas-Forth Worth, and Houston are winning markets. The Census Bureau reports approximately 67,000 single- and multifamily building permits in the first quarter of 2009 were issued in the southern region. In Texas more than 20,000 were issued. If more than 120,000 permits were issued in the entire U.S. during the first quarter, then that means more than half has been issued in the South alone.