The exurbs are starting to make a comeback, signaling that the housing market’s recovery is slowly spreading beyond major cities.
Areas on the outskirts of cities went bust earlier and harder than most other places during the housing downturn. That is partly because job losses, mortgage defaults and high gasoline prices hit families living there particularly hard, hampering home sales and construction in the far-flung neighborhoods. Builders, blaming weak demand in these areas, shifted to building on more expensive land closer to city centers.
Though definitions vary, exurbs generally are bedroom communities on the fringe of metropolitan areas, where homes account for most of the building stock, many residents make long commutes to work and agriculture or open land border the community on one or more sides.
Many economists deemed a recovery in these areas unlikely for several years. Yet many of the locales, specifically in the South and West, are rebounding earlier than expected for one main reason: relatively inexpensive housing costs.
Information from The Wall Street Journal
