One thing I think the Townships will wish they had capitalized on is higher-density opportunities, like you suggest with the urban core idea. I think it’s something that rural areas like ours have missed out on, although Charlottesville seems to be ahead of the game among it’s peers. That’s one way I think our governments are going to have to adjust, not just in the short-term but for the long-term.

Among the industry, I think we’re likely to see a reduction in agents … but I think it’d be interesting to see how membership has fluctuated within local, state and national associations during economic swings. What has the pattern tracked?

I also agree that I think we’ll see some increase in boutique brokerages … didn’t we see a few in Arizona do this recently? I’m part of a large brokerage, the largest in the area in fact, and all I keep hearing about is that we need to find a new way to market. I can’t help but think that the brokerage is trying to scale back out of fear, but seems like this is the time we should be looking for new ways to adapt and prepare for new markets. Perhaps large brokerages just can’t move that quickly.

I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m interested to see what comes of this. From trial comes opportunity.

The problem with parents trying to change the schools with activism is that the child is out of the school before the there can be any changes from the education-tax and spend complex. The Educrats rely on this fact. It is cheaper for a parent to sacrifice themselves on the freeway during school years than it is to try to reform a failed system in time for the child to benefit. As the boomers age and the nests empty out, I foresee a shift back to the cities and the suburbs becoming the new low income areas. By the time there is any kind of public transportation to the outlying burbs, the millions of McMansions that have been built in the past ten years will have had their mortgages paid off. There will be a whole bunch of squriming in those outlying communities to maintain property values.

@Faina: ERAHouston has a 7 mile toy train line from downtown to the football field. It has been so expensive and the operating losses are so huge that our Metro bus service has been reduced to help cover the losses. The expansions to this line are going to cost billions more and there are no plans in the near future to move anyone from the ‘burbs to the work areas. Just a line to move tourists from one developer’s property to another. Of course, since we are the energy capital of the world, every spike in price means job growth here

The metro Houston area is about 100 miles x 100 miles without counting ex-urbs. Hot fast growing cities like Phoenix and Atlanta are similar in sprawl. How do you mandate density? Houston does not even have zoning. There will be market based solutions based on individuals doing what is in their own best interest, but the effect of expensive energy on real estate will require us as professionals to pay attention and advise our clients accordingly-something which we have always done. These are issues which cannot be addressed by a realty.bot, either. It requires boots and a brain on the ground.

My first draft had a disclaimer that despite the fact it came from the NYTimes, it was a worthwhile article. It’s worth a read, seriously.

I believe by the time we hit 5 bucks a gallon, we’ll start seeing “How far do you commute to work?” on mortgage loan applications, and associated “per mile” costs will be factored into back-end-ratios.

I would have read the article and may have enjoyed it but once you mentioned Paul Krugman it was all over for me.