Housing Market Leading Indicators
What are the signs that a neighborhood is about to be christened that most coveted of labels, “up-and-coming?”
One of my favorite bellwethers is (good) new restaurants (dare I say “trendy?”).
Such enterprises are budget-conscious, so need to find parts of town with cheaper rent.
But, they need to be close enough to prospective patrons that they’re convenient, easy to find, etc.
Virtuous Cycle
In truth, there’s an interplay between good, new restaurants and appreciating home prices: interesting local food (and other neighborhood amenities) makes the surrounding area more desirable, which pulls in residents with more disposable income, which attracts yet more amenities (can you say, “Brooklyn?”).
Stage 2: some of those real estate pioneers look for tired (translation: cheaper) nearby real estate to update, which reinforces the cycle (just don’t call it “gentrifying”).
Eventually, the “up-and-coming” neighborhood sports rents and amenities typical of established (“arrived”) neighborhoods . . . and the cycle repeats somewhere else.
P.S.: Which Twin Cities ‘burb meets many of the above criteria?
My candidate is Robbinsdale (yes, Robbinsdale).
Runner-up: Richfield.
See also, “You Know a Restaurant is Hot When . . .”; “Seeing ‘Brooklyn’s’ Everywhere”; and “How to Recognize a (Too) Trendy Neighborhood.”
