Home Prices Drop Most in Areas with Long Commute
Link (NPR)

“Economists say home prices are nowhere near hitting bottom. But even in regions that have taken a beating, some neighborhoods remain practically unscathed. And a pattern is emerging as to which neighborhoods those are.

The ones with short commutes are faring better than places with long drives into the city. Some analysts see a pause in what has long been inexorable — urban sprawl.”

“At a recent auction of foreclosed homes north of Washington, in the Maryland suburbs, there weren’t many takers. All of the addresses are far from downtown, and average commute times are among the highest in the nation.

It’s a different story for properties that are closer to the city’s center — in areas of Montgomery County that are on the edge of Washington.

“When I have a listing in this neighborhood, there are often 40 to 60 people coming through the open houses,” said Pam Ryan-Brye, an agent with Long and Foster Real Estate.

Inside the city, median home prices are actually up 3.5 percent from a year ago.”
[...]
“David Stiff, chief economist for the company that produces the Case-Shiller Home Price Index, saw the trend in other cities, as well — including Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, San Diego, Miami and Boston.

Stiff recently matched home resale values against commute times and found that in most of these major metropolitan areas, the trend is the same. The longer the commute, the steeper the drop in prices.

Stiff says home buyers’ attitudes have changed. The old rule was, “Drive ’til you qualify” — meaning they should go out from the city until they could get what they wanted at a price they could afford.

Stiff says buyers are now asking different questions: “What is the cost of gasoline? What is the cost of my time?”"
[...]
“Goldberg sees other cities rebounding, too, including Baltimore and Philadelphia.

“Philadelphia was losing downtown housing and in-town housing until very recently,” Goldberg said. “And now that’s the hottest part of their market.”

Goldberg expects the trend to continue, even after the current housing crisis ends. Throughout the country, the percentage of families with children is shrinking. The share of empty-nesters, seniors and young people living alone keeps heading up. Those groups don’t typically seek big green lawns.”