BRAC Relocation Brings Good News for Potential Homeowners

Those affected by relocation assignments from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission are finding great news upon arriving in their new city: they can afford to own a home.

While the national housing market is experiencing a slowing in growth, some local markets are booming, unaffected by dour predictions for the economy. As a result, individuals and families affected by BRAC are finding it easier to become homeowners, and many are surprised to find out what kind of home they can afford.

The housing market in Huntsville, Alabama is one such example. Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville is the relocation site of AMC headquarters and USASAC. The average sales price of a home in Huntsville is $189,813. Using the Home Price Comparison Index, a home of this price is equivalent to a $417,756 home in Woodbridge, Virginia, a $694,994 home in Alexandria, Virginia or a $725,376 home in Washington, DC. When asked about the average home prices in the areas around Fort Belvoir, Kathy Stark, a Northern Virginia REALTOR®, estimates the average townhouse price to be $350,000. Stark says that the average price for a modest single-family home would be between $600,000 and $650,000. Needless to say, the Huntsville housing market is a bargain.

Brenda Elliott, broker/owner of WEICHERT, REALTORS® - The Executive Group and veteran Army wife, explains the perks of relocating to an area like Huntsville. “When my husband retired from the Pentagon, we moved to Huntsville with his new job. This area is growing rapidly, which makes it a really great time to invest in real estate.”

Elliott is not understating the growth of the area. 10 years ago, the average sales price for a home in the Huntsville market was $115,518, and there was just over $196 million in real estate sold. In 2007, residential real estate in Huntsville was a $581 million industry.

“The market is hot, and houses are selling quickly,” says Elliott. “This is great news for sellers, but it’s also good news for potential buyers, because Huntsville real estate is a smart investment. This growth shows no sign of cooling. In 1997, the average time a house stayed on the market was 169 days. In 2007, our average number of days on market was 68.”

There are also options for those looking to super-size their living situation. “There are several neighborhoods with luxury homes where just the lot can start at $200,000” says Elliott. “For people looking in the $400,000 to $700,000 range, Huntsville has many options.”

Sounds like great news for those relocating, but what about people staying in Northern Virginia?

“The Huntsville real estate market has some great investment properties, and many sales agents in the area work exclusively with out-of-town investors” says Elliott.

Huntsville is also an attractive option for those looking to own a second home. The area has many amenities, including courses on the critically acclaimed Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail located in the Hampton Cove area. The Hampton Cove RTJ facility has 54 holes, including 36 championship holes and an 18-hole short course. The Huntsville Museum of Art offers diverse programming, from an Italian Renaissance exhibit from the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, to a salute to 20th century American music with portraits by photographers such as Annie Liebovitz and Philippe Halsman.

For those more interested in shopping, the new Bridge Street Towne Center is a retail experience not to be missed. Bridge Street bills itself as a mixed-use lifestyle center, with 550,000 square feet of retail, office and hotel space on 100 acres. Designed by a development firm from Los Angeles, this open-air environment is styled to resemble an Italian village, with gondolas floating on waterways amidst the designer boutiques, luxury movie theatre and future site of the Westin Hotel. Bridge Street’s L.A.-based design company, O&S Holdings, predicts that “lifestyle centers,” such as this, are the future of retail.

Huntsville is certainly not short on activities, including the Huntsville Symphony Orchestra, Broadway Theatre League, Botanical Garden, Space Camp and Concerts in the Park, a summer outdoor concert series. Huntsville also has the Big Spring Jam, a three-day outdoor concert festival that draws 230,000 attendees to view performances by artists such as Destiny’s Child, KC & the Sunshine Band, Blues Traveler and Taylor Swift.

Huntsville’s growing industry also makes it a great place to invest. In addition to the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, Huntsville is home to the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Cummings Research Park (CRP). CRP is one of the world’s leading science and technology business parks. CRP covers 3,843 acres and hosts Fortune 500 companies, local and international high-tech enterprises, US space and defense agencies and higher-education institutions. It is the second largest research and technology park in the United States and the fourth largest in the world. The Association of University Research Parks (AURP) ranked CRP as the Most Outstanding Science Park in the World. There is still 500 acres available for development, meaning there is still much expansion to be seen in this area.

Nearly every major U.S. aerospace corporation is represented in Huntsville, with 90+ companies employing more than 11,000 people in the local aerospace industry. Huntsville also plays a role in the U.S. Army’s technology development programs, with military and support contract employment reaching over 32,000.

Those who have previously relocated from Northern Virginia to Huntsville say they could not be happier with their new city. “Huntsville has so much to offer” says Elliott. “It’s a big city with a community spirit.”

Real Estate and Astrophysics

It’s been recently reported that an act of galactic violence never before witnessed by astronomers is occurring a few galaxies over, and while reading the story, I couldn’t help but think of the housing market.

According to astrophysicists tracking the event, a massive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy is attacking a smaller nearby galaxy using a jet of highly charged radiation. (How rude!) Black holes are areas of highly concentrated mass that exist in space. Just as the Earth has a gravitational pull that keeps us firmly planted on the ground due to its mass, black holes have a strong gravitation pull as well. There is one slight difference here though: escape velocity – the speed required to “escape” the gravitational pull of the mass in question. The Earth has an escape velocity of 25,000 mph. In order to launch an object into space from Earth, the space shuttle/rocket/paper airplane, has to go 25,000 mph or faster. The moon, a much smaller mass, has an escape velocity of 5,300 mph. A black hole’s escape velocity is faster than the speed of light. Therefore, nothing, not even light, can escape a black hole.

How are black holes created? The gravitational collapse of a star is the most common origin for this phenomenon, but scientists say black holes can be created using a particle accelerator. While experts say the chances of planetary annihilation resulting from an artificially induced black hole are miniscule, alarmist organizations such as the Lifeboat Foundation claim the danger is so imminent, we should establish “self-sustaining colonies elsewhere.” I’ll add that to my “To Do” list, but first, I’ll explain what all this has to do with real estate.

The ability to “artificially induce” a black hole makes me think of an economic concept we’ve heard a lot about lately: recession. I think that there are two types of recessions: naturally occurring recessions as economies go through normal cycles, and induced recessions, caused by fear and panic that something bad will happen.

While it is heavily reported that we are teetering on the verge of recession, this is a media succubus manufactured by scaremonger tendencies that drive content on slow news days. “Let’s see…no new information on Israel and Palestine? Hmmmm…we could report about the 375 people running for president…no, no…Wait! The housing market! Let’s talk about how bad it is! Go get an old lady who just lost her home! She’ll be great on camera!”

If you don’t believe me, you’ve never been in a newsroom staff meeting pitching story ideas.

On Thursday, December 20, 2007, the U.S. Commerce Department made an astounding discovery: things aren’t as bad as we thought. The final numbers on third quarter GDP have been reported, and the Gross Domestic Product increased 4.9%. This number is unchanged from the estimate made a month ago.

Meanwhile, media pundits are scratching their heads, asking, “Well…how did that happen? Are you sure about those numbers? Let me see that report again…”

As a result of this “surely you must be kidding” reaction from the press, the GDP statement has been reported with much skepticism and the good news is buttressed by “howevers” and “be that as it mays.”

The Associated Press article on the GDP release is a brilliant example of how to deliver good news in a way that hurts: “The U.S. economy sprinted ahead at its fastest pace in four years during the summer, although it is expected to limp through the final three months of this year as the housing and credit debacles weigh on individuals and businesses alike.”

The confusion over the 2007 third quarter good news dates back to late in 2005, when reports of housing market Armageddon started appearing.

December 8, 2005 – USAToday: “Sustained decline forecast in U.S. housing market”

February 28, 2006 – ABCNews: “Homes Sales Down: Is the End Near?”

May 5, 2006 – FORTUNE Magazine: “Welcome to the dead zone” Real estate survival guide: The great housing bubble has finally started to deflate, and the fall will be harder in some markets than others.

August 24, 2006 – The Big Picture: “Is a Housing Crisis Approaching?”

August 27, 2006 – The Washington Post: “The Housing Crisis Goes Suburban”

September 7, 2006 – USAToday: “Realtors forecast what home builders know: Home sales this year will tumble.”

September 14, 2006 – USAToday: “More Fall Behind on Mortgages”

November 2, 2006 – CNN Money Magazine: “Slow-market crisis: Stuck with two homes” Imagine you buying your dream home only to discover you're unable to sell your current one.

January 25, 2007 – MSNBC: “Has housing market bottomed out?” The final housing numbers for 2006 are in, and they confirm what anyone who bought or sold a home last year has suspected: It was the worst housing slump in nearly two decades.

April 2, 2007 – The Boston Globe: “Housing Crisis Comes Knocking”

March 11, 2007 – The New York Times: “Crisis Looms in Market for Mortgages”

While there is no doubt that many factors may have contributed to the deflation of confidence in the housing market, there is one constant factor in this supposed “crisis”: people who keep saying we’re in a crisis. If you tell everyone something is real enough times, they will start to believe it. The Earth is flat, women can’t do math, and the housing market is crashing.

So what exactly is the escape velocity that we need to propel ourselves out of the clutches of this artificially induced black hole? How do we fight a fake recession? Education at light speed! Stephen Hawking hypothesized that black holes can eventually evaporate. Maybe this fake recession will evaporate if we refuse to acknowledge that it exists.