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Businessweek Reports On A True Hpc Coming To A Town Near U


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HOLA441

To warm the cockles of your heart on a cold English morning something from the most widely circulated business magazine in the US:

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/conte...51/b3964052.htm

Bubble, Bubble -- Then Trouble
Is the chill in once-red-hot Loudoun County, Va., a portent of what's ahead?
Psssssfffffft. That's the sound of the air finally leaking from the real estate bubble in Loudoun County, Va. Since 2000 it's been the nation's fastest-growing county, where eager homebuyers always seemed to outnumber happy sellers. Until now.
By October, agents had 2,908 existing Loudoun houses on the market, an increase of 127% over a year earlier. The average time on the market had climbed 62%, to 42 days, since the fall of '04. And in just two months, from August to October, the median sales price for houses dropped from $506,100 to $480,000.
What's happening in Loudoun is a rapid shift in psychology -- a classic sign of a market turn. The buoyant optimism that fueled speculation and expectations of ever-rising prices is now succumbing to the fear of being left standing when the music stops. Real estate, the hottest play of the century in Loudoun, is rapidly cooling
.
The same signs of a slowing market can be seen in hot spots across the country
, from Boston and Miami to Phoenix, Las Vegas, and San Diego.
Many other overheated areas
could suffer even larger price drops than Loudoun County
. Some, like Boston, lack the rapid growth in jobs to support rising prices. In Phoenix, high prices and cheap land have sparked a construction boom that's beginning to deflate the bubble. Other areas, such as Las Vegas and Florida cities like Miami, have seen rampant speculation.
Easy financing fueled the buying boom: County officials say up to 40% of new mortgages this year were interest-only loans, with low payments enabling borrowers to finance higher bids
.
There's another explanation, says insurance agent Joe Kelly over lunch downtown at the Leesburg Restaurant. "They ran out of stupid people
."
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