Since housing seems to be a constant topic in Grand Forks I thought I would present some data. The data are consulted far too infrequently in this discussion in my opinion. We still do not address the issue in a proper manner. Price is not the problem, it is the symptom of a problem, if one actually exists. Just as your runny nose is not the problem, but a symptom of a virus, allergy or other issue. If we look to treat only the symptom, we may miss out on the opportunity to fix the source of a problem and things only get worse.

Quarterly percentage change, FHFA All-transactions price index for Grand Forks, 1989Q3 – 2014Q1

There have been consistent increases in home prices from quarter to quarter. Over this time frame the average increase has been over 1 percent per quarter. Not outrageously large, but a decent increase when looking over a long period of time.

We have heard all kinds of suggestions for intervention without a coherent reason why or a strategy to follow. The problem is they all focus on price as the problem requiring a fix. What we need is a deeper examination of the issue, one that looks at factors impacting demand and supply so we can better determine the problem and work out a meaningful solution.

This work by Flynnglis is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International