Given a choice, I would expect most home buyers would say they prefer to buy into a “stable” neighborhood where there’s not a lot of people moving out and in. They want to get to know their neighbors because there is a comfort level in that. They like stability for the kids their children come to know as playmates. Long term neighbors often watch out for each other becoming aware of what’s “normal” and what’s not … acting as an unstructured block watch group.
When I purchased my home, the neighborhood of 368 homes was still being developed. My home was in Phase 2 of ultimately 7 phases. At that early stage, I had no way of knowing whether or not it would be a stable neighborhood.
As it turns out, it is a VERY stable community. After 15 years, 43% of the homes are lived in by the original owners. 42% are lived in by the second owner, but many of those owners have lived in their home for 7-10 years. When it comes time for people to move, it’s quite common for them to express how much they really hate to leave but a new job opportunity or the need for a larger home, requires them to make their decision. That speaks volumes about the friendliness of the community.
I don’t know how the 43% compares to other communities, but it seems like it might be on the high side for 15-year old homes. When I was calculating the data for this analysis, I noticed that there was a substantial variance for the 13 streets. Two of the streets had over 80% original owners! Two other streets had only 20-some % original owners. I’m not sure why the disparity, but I suspect it is due to price. The high turnover streets tend to have lower prices so they may be appealing to first time buyers. The less transient streets have more expensive homes, thus, it’s possible those “move-up” buyers were buying their “last” home before going into a condo.
As for me, I’m one of the 2nd owners who has lived in the home for 12 years. Since The Murph has plenty of playmates, I think I’ll sit tight until I, too, decide a condo is the next step … or not.
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