Economics Today and Tomorrow

"Location, Location, Location"

Introduction
You may have heard the saying that the three most important factors affecting the price of real estate are location, location, and location. When one considers that the purchase of a home is the greatest investment most people will make in their lifetimes, location takes on even more importance. To illustrate how much the cost of living among locations can vary, use the Moving.com Web site to compare housing costs in your city to other cities in the United States.

Destination Title: Moving.com

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Directions
Start at the Moving.com Web site.

• Under "Real Estate," choose "Compare Two Cities" by clicking on it.
• Select your state and the state you wish to compare. Then select the city nearest your area and a comparison city. Click on "City Comparison"
• Read through the comparison, writing down the numbers for the following statistics: cost of living, job growth, unemployment rate, median family income, home purchase cost, and property tax.
• Go back to the previous page and repeat the comparison process for three other cities located around the country. In all, you will have housing data from five cities.

1			Compare the costs of living in each of the five cities. How does your city compare to the other cities in your search? The national average for the cost of living is a score of 100. How does your city compare to the national average?
2			List the home purchase costs for a home in each of the cities. Which city has the highest home costs? What reasons can you give that may support the higher costs?
3			Look at the property taxes in each of the cities. How do they compare, and how might they influence a person's choice of relocating into that area?
4			Using the figures presented under Job Growth and Unemployment Rate, compare the employment prospects of the cities. What do these figures tell you about people who may be relocating and seeking a job in those cities?
5			Other than the price of housing, factors such as air pollution, crime index, graduation rate, weather, and state and local income taxes can contribute to a city's quality of life rating. Looking at all of the statistics offered, choose the one city that you feel provides the best quality of life for its residents. Prepare a brief presentation to share with your class citing all the factors that you feel contribute to the desirability of your location. Consider any trade-offs that residents living there make.