Skyrocketing Prices The Result Of Over Regulation of Development...

As home prices hit new highs, a statewide real estate organization reported this week that Californians in general cannot afford those homes. ...

Over-regulation of real estate development is severely limiting the supply of land for new home development. Once prices get high enough, and they are almost there, the high cost of real property is going to kill off California's economic engine. This same trend is happening in Washington State, with the passage of the Growth Management Act about 15 years ago. Both states are in for a rude awakening in the not too distant future. More and more businesses are considering moving out of those states to more business- and housing-friendly states and communities.

Stay tuned.

Real Estate Times Are Changing

Although a continuous flow of capital has kept the real estate industry stable overall, growth over the next year is likely to be more moderate compared to the robust levels of recent months, with much depending on what happens with a variety of factors such as consumer spending, energy prices, housing demand, job growth, corporate productivity gains and inflation, according to Emerging Trends in Real Estate(R) 2006, just released by the Urban Land Institute (ULI) and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.