Moody’s Projects Housing Will Be A Losing Proposition Over The Next Decade

by Tom Royce on September 26, 2006


Forsale2I am not certain that these numbers have any merit whatsoever, but I came across them at the MSN Real Estate site and figured I would put them up for discussion. The chart has the projected 10 year increase in property values for 15 major metropolitan markets. It was done by Moody’s Economy.com and I think that if these numbers are true, than holding real estate is going to be a losing proposition over the next decade as inflation will eat away all of the economic benefits and profit.

The other group that better pray that these numbers are wrong are the local governments as much of their income comes in from property taxes. There is not much room for raises or services unless they ramp up the tax rates quickly.

Region                     2Q 2006    2Q 2016    % increase

Washington D.C.      $435,899    $450,747     3%
New York                $558,853    $611,045     9%
Boston                      $416,911    $481,184     15%
Philadelphia               $230,495    $269,818     17%
Minneapolis-St. Paul $244,186    $286,397     17%
Chicago                    $290,953    $360,018     24%
Los Angeles              $538,477    $667,048     24%
Miami                        $399,348    $498,564     25%
Atlanta                       $172,722    $227,488     32%
St. Louis                    $147,359    $195,607     33%
Phoenix                      $284,727    $378,914     33%
San Diego                 $624,987    $856,067      37%
Houston                    $147,496    $214,370     45%
Dallas                       $162,461    $245,725     51%
Seattle                      $384,543    $612,383     59%

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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Dan September 26, 2006 at 11:48 am

You wrote:

"There is not much room for raises or services unless they ramp up the tax rates quickly."

I strongly disagree. Assessments have gone through the roof as property values have gone through the roof. Any local government official who wants BOTH, higher valued assessments AND increased tax rates should be thrown out of office as soon as possible. Governments have ridden the same gravy train as speculators with legit home owners paying the tax bill.

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Jim Davis September 26, 2006 at 12:17 pm

It must be noted that Moody's sells their services to investors that are primarily interested in the securities markets. Do they have a vested interest in steering their clients toward securities rather than real estate? One wonders about the accuracy of any similar reports published by Moody's in 1996 that forecast growth through 2006. Did they come close to correctly forecast the growth we have seen in the past decade? I doubt it.

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Tom September 26, 2006 at 3:13 pm

Dan – Great point, I was a step ahead of myself as I expect everyone to recognize the ever present greed of the politician wanting more money. If these numbers hold up, they will have spent the appreciation too fast and gotten an infrastructure they can not afford.

Jim – outstanding point. Panic the investor class to profitable securities not that evil (we do not make a commision on) real estate.

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Michael September 27, 2006 at 3:48 am

"It must be noted that Moody’s sells their services to investors that are primarily interested in the securities markets. Do they have a vested interest in steering their clients toward securities rather than real estate?"

No, Moody's would want to steer their clients toward markets which will earn them good to excellent returns. This report is basically saying those returns can be found in some housing markets, but not all – namely, not in the most frothy bubble markets the past 5 years.

Is that where you bought recently, Mr. Davis?

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swansboro nc real es September 27, 2006 at 9:13 am

Swansboro (Onslow county) recently had a revaluation and property taxes increased by 4 times in some cases. However, the market has slowed significantly (and started to reverse somewhat) and so the new values are based on old market numbers.

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