Yes, we are caught in the mortgage crisis when it comes to subprime loans and the rate of foreclosures. But there is this side to Indiana real estate, too:
Riding the housing boom that started in 1991, prices for all houses here and across the country have climbed from a time when a "luxury home" was in the $300,000 to $500,000 range, says Briscoe.
In 1990, the U.S. Census report for Indiana listed 5,961 homes valued at $300,000 or more.
The number sextupled in the 2000 report, which included two more price brackets to reflect the rising home values. The 2000 U.S. Census reported more than 27,000 Hoosier homes in the $300,000 to $499,999 bracket, more than 7,000 in the $500,000 to $999,999 segment and 1,821 homes valued at $1 million or higher.
And the numbers have kept growing. A 2003 supplementary report showed Indiana with 2,616 homes valued at $1 million or more.
Imagine that. More than 2,500 homes in Indiana valued at $1 million or more. That says something, especially considering what a $1 million house here would cost in California or New York. I remember going to the Street of Dreams (a more upscale version of the Parade of Homes) several years ago and marveling at the $300,000 to $400,000 homes. One of them, I think, had about 7,000 square feet of living space, and I thought, "This is for me." If I had the money to spare, there isn't much I would really spend it on -- no expensive cars or elaborate trips or lots of clothes and jewelry and the other trappings of wealth. But I would have the best house there is, and then some.
