The American Dream may have been pronounced all but extinct from some quarters of late, but at least one piece of information makes its impending demise questionable. It’s an unchallenged fact that everyone who keeps tabs on St. Cloud residential real estate will verify—one that writer Claire Trapasso summarized neatly in last week’s Realtor News:

“Homeowners racked up some serious wealth over the past decade.”

The recent track record experienced by participants in that American Dream (St. Cloud version) is impossible to ignore. Back during the Great Recession, voices from many quarters focused on the financial beating taken by those who had joined a speculative rush, hoping to profit from loose lending standards. That lax period encouraged less-than-qualified mortgage borrowers to purchase houses they planned to sell within a short period of time. That may be the “stuff dreams are made of”—but it’s not anything like the true American Dream. And when the international banking system suffered a major shakeup, many were forced to sell at a loss (or worse).

Even though those circumstances were an anomaly, they caused the widespread devaluation of markets globally—St. Cloud residential real estate included. Although the vast majority of homeowners suffered only paper losses, the hue and cry in the press was universal: the luster of homeownership, in general, was gone! The American Dream had been tarnished—perhaps retired permanently!

Viewed through the lens of history, that was nonsense. Most St. Cloud homeowners would have been totally unaware of their theoretical financial shellacking if they didn’t happen to tune in to the nay-sayers. If they happened to glance at valuations a few years later, they would have yawned and gone back to their lawn mowing. On valuation charts, the dip (at first, a fright-producing steep drop-off) took a decade to reverse, and a while longer to resume its historical climb. But climb it has. As recounted by Trapasso:

·         “The value of their homes has soared 68% since 2012…”

·         “Middle-class homeowners who bought real estate during the depths of the Great Recession built over $122,000 in wealth…”

·         “Low-income homeowners saw about $99,000 in home appreciation over the same period…”

Far from spelling doom for the Dream, the current crunch in affordability simply means that it is tantalizingly out of reach for many—and history tells us that this is bound to be temporary. But does it mean the Dream of homeownership is threatened with extinction? It would seem far more likely that the opposite is true: it may be elusive for some, but that makes it all the more tantalizing. And worth pursuing. The bounty to those who ignored naysayers at the height of the Great Recession proves the point.

The benefits of St. Cloud homeownership are still there, as is the advantage of teaming with the know-how and experience of a licensed St. Cloud Realtor^® to help secure them. Call me to discuss how you can write your own version of the Dream!        

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