What Happens When Flippers and Investors Abandon a Housing Market

What happens when high finance abandons a seasonal housing economy at the beach? People who have investments deeper than their pockets and broader than their pocketbooks have room and opportunity otherwise remote:

Housing values [around Cape Cod, Mass.] aren't expected to reverse their slide for another year, based on the latest economists' data. This means that Cape buyers today aren't flippers, investors, or speculators. Today's house hunters are buying because they love the Cape, not because they want to make a quick buck. They'll make money eventually, when things turn around, but this market offers something far more precious: a chance to fulfill a dream that had previously been far from reach - a vacation home on the Cape.

Due to a recent inheritance, my husband and I now quite unexpectedly find ourselves among this group of buyers. When the money came to us, we thought about investing it in a financial portfolio. But you can't watch the sunset from the deck of your mutual fund. You can't walk to the beach from your ETF. You can't host rockin' all-night parties in the backyard of your high-yield CD.