Two interconnected trends with far-reaching implications for the real estate industry have evolved in the United States over the last 50 years. First, the nation has steadily moved away from its traditional manufacturing base to become more specialized in services and information-producing industries, creating a demand for new kinds of employees and workplaces. Second, people have realized out­standing gains in personal wealth and disposable income and, as an outcome, are increasingly able to define where and how they want to live. Working in combination, these changes have dispersed growth from older, more built-up areas in the Northeast and Midwest to newer, less developed areas in the South and West and, at the same time, from the core to the periphery of metropolitan areas nationwide. What is the connection between economic restructuring and real estate markets? How does it manifest itself? And, looking forward, where is the rela­tionship heading?

Authors: Bill Mundy, John A. Kilpatrick, John I. Carruthers, and Ron Throupe

Originally published in Real Estate Issues, Vol. 28, No. 3 (2003)

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