News Highlights

As the major markets in the Unites States grow in population, many people and their employers have been picking up stakes and moving to the suburbs.  This phenomenon, often referred to as suburban "sprawl" has a direct affect on the housing market as well as the these cities' master plans.  Many major cities are implementing urban growth boundaries to protect open space and farm land.  All cities are different however for reasons varying from demographics to geography. 

Many of our major cities now however are seeing a change in demographic and lifestyle choice which is reversing the sprawl and bring people back to the city's core.  The reasons range from rising gas prices and commuting costs to greater amenities and conveniences now offered by home builders. 

Brent Gleeson, President of www.newcondosonline.com, the nations leading resource for finding new condo, townhome, and loft developments says, "To accommodate this transition, home builders are going vertical and developing higher density product.  This new product comes in the form of condos, townhomes, and lofts.  Much of this new development is actually the redevelopment of formerly blighted neighborhoods.  Home builders and city officials recognize that redevelopment at the cities core and converting apartments to condos brings new tax revenue to the city and beautifies run-down areas."

This redevelopment is also referred to as "smart growth".  Most advocates of smart growth purport that their practices will promote economic development. Decentralization of economic activity has plagued cities of late, draining their human capital into the surrounding suburbs. Urban growth boundaries have also arisen as a way to combat this problem. By creating cities without suburbs, urban areas are able to better seize internal opportunities to develop underutilized land.  Now home builders and developers can focus on infill development and creating new mixed use product including condos, townhomes, lofts, and retail.  By preventing development outside the urban area, industry, retail and housing is forced to be built on vacated or underused parcels within the boundary. This restriction creates much higher density living in urban areas, a trend that many planners see as a best practice.

Suburban sprawl is a phenomenon that can really only occur in the cities that can geographically accommodate it.  Cities like San Diego which are bounded by Mexico, the Pacific, and Camp Pendleton Marine Base can only experience a moderate level of sprawl.  This is a fact without even mentioning the vast amounts of land surrounding cities like San Diego that is environmentally protected.  As populations grow, higher density development and infill development are inevitable for the housing market.  The supply of new condo, townhome, loft, and condo conversion projects have drastically increased in the last five or six years.  Many home builders that used to focus their efforts on single family home master planned communities have now turned to condos and townhomes. 

The sheer need for resource like www.newcondosonline.com, is a testament to this fact.  The home buyer and investor can search thousands of new condos, townhomes, and lofts across the country.  Brent Gleeson says, "As higher density home development continues to occur in every major city and the "sprawl" slows, the consumers and builders will need an effective tool to come together in a central marketplace.  www.newcondosonline.com was creating to be that vary tool."