Portland Real estate Shifting to Urban Centers For Shorter Commutes
Everything is expensive these days: mortgages, interest rates, food and fuel, to name a few. When you have to save money, where do you cut corners? For many Americans, driving has never been a fun task – especially in rush hour, bumper-to-bumper city traffic. For the average 25-mile-a-day commuter, the fuel hike has taken an extra $50 from the monthly budget, according to Mark Zandi at Moody's Economy.com. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average household spent $1,422/year on gasoline in 2003 –but will spend $3,196 this year!
Now that the suburbs are not only a time-consuming trip, but also an expensive one, people living in Portland real estate are starting to crave urban living, studies show. An added bonus to downtown living, aside from shorter commute, is the idea that one can live without a car at all! Additionally, residents are closer to all the amenities and entertainment and they can also live maintenance-free in a luxury condo or townhome.
"It's like an ebbing of this suburban tide," said Portland real estate economist and consultant Joe Cortright. Mr. Cortright reports that in Chicago, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Tampa and Portland, real estate prices have fared much better than their suburbs. "There's going to be this kind of reversal of desirability. Typically, Americans have felt the periphery was most desirable, and now there's going to be a reversion to the center."