'Dr. Doom’ Gets Optimistic

The Nostradamus of real estate, NYU professor and economist Nouriel Roubini, just paid $5.5 million for a penthouse loft in New York’s East Village neighborhood. In 2005, Roubini made predictions that were then scoffed at but turned out to come true. The New York Times notes that he foresaw "homeowners defaulting on mortgages, trillions of dollars of mortgage-backed securities unraveling worldwide and the global financial system shuddering to a halt".


According to the Wall Street Journal, Roubini recently said economic growth was “too slow to keep unemployment from rising and housing prices from falling further. He put the chance of the U.S. slipping back into recession at 40%. Still, real-estate people in New York were quick to seize on his purchase as a healthy sign for the local property market.”

Sure, every market is local, but count me in with the New Yorkers who see such an esteemed economist take a pricey leap of faith as a good sign!

Bigger Is No Longer Better

A recent Relocation.com survey sheds some insight on consumer preferences when buying a home. Almost half (48%) of respondents prefer a smaller home between 1,000 and 1,999 square feet, whereas 29% would rather have a home 2,000-2,999 square feet.
Perhaps the popularity of McMansions passed when the economy turned sour. With a bigger house comes higher utility bills, more furniture, more maintenance…more money! And in the global effort to go green, an increasing number of people are realizing that less is more.
Interestingly, with the desire to live in smaller accommodations, the majority (54%) prefer suburban living, 24% choose urban areas, and 22% rural.

What do you think, are the days of super-sized homes numbered? It will be interesting to see once home building picks up again if the public tells builders to go small or go home.