Owning own home no longer so affordable (as submitted to Highestwire)

Submitted by Emily Jean Clancy on Wednesday, February 23, 2005 at 01:36:36 AM EST.

After my 15 years of living in Michigan I am finding that the cost of homes are increasing dramatically. Currently in Oakland County, the cost of homes ranges from 150,000 to 300,000 dollars. The average household is struggling to make the payments.

Why are these prices going up? The reason is because of the economy. For a while now, home prices all across Michigan have been going up, and the costs increase even more when it comes to living near Michigan's lakes.

While previously, many middle class families could easily afford to buy a home, that is not the case now. Who can afford to buy the big homes being built now? Mostly educated people such as doctors, lawyers, engineers, and much more. But not everyone has those jobs. Most people work at a regular job and earn low hourly wages.

People now have a much harder time finding their dream property. Because of urban sprawl and the increasing number of subdivisions, large properties containing woods, wetlands and open fields are hard to find. Looking for property today is not as easy as it was twenty years ago, and it seems as though demand is closing in on supply.

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