Post Housing Boom of Dupont WA

Topic:

Investments

Over the past 10 years the little community of Dupont located in Washington state has changed dramatically. Prices soared during the housing boom and appreciation of over $100,000 in 6 months was easy to obtain. But now with the economic turmoil and finance regulations stricter than ever, Dupont has seen many of its property values come down. Although a majority of homes haven't dropped below the original value that was paid for, one can still find many homeowners taking a $50,000-$100,000 loss of their appreciated value. What's interesting is that located in Dupont is Intel, the corporate center of State Farm, and many other businesses. From a business perspective one would think that the ones that live in the community are the ones that work nearby, but it's quite the opposite. Most of the residents are soldiers from Military bases nearby and civilians that work at Intel and such that actually commute on longer distances to places like Seattle and Tacoma. This is very unusual because residents who work close to master planned communities seem to stay by the community for convenience. For instance communities by Microsoft usually have high rental rates and have no problem renting. While Dupont is still a strong community because of the military installations it's still a wonder why this is the case for this community. Another interesting observation is that the number of Dupont Homes for Sale has increased but they generally last from 30-60 days on the market, which is good comparatively to other markets out there. Rental rates have gone down very little and the number of homes available for rent has increased, but last on average 30 days on the market. The number of foreclosures has increased, but still sells at current market values. Unfortunately the tenant quality has changed and 1 out of 10 either do not pay rent or leave the premises in a mess. Property Management business has increased significantly in this time period , but so have the headaches. In all Dupont has been a great pocket market compared to surrounding areas and has maintained its appeal. Property values will either maintain their current value or decrease, but not substantially. Again properties are at the mercy of bank financing, which equate to 90% of whether current real estate prices will go down or will go up.

by Penelope Lacy

04/04/2010

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