First of all, let’s not take for granted the properties of good old dirt. As demand for natural resources heats up, water, minerals, timber, agricultural value, and even just plain carbon reducing properties will continue to become more valuable. So will the conflict between the need to extract resources versus the need to conserve undeveloped land holdings. So grab a handful of dirt and repeat after me.. “dirt is good”. Rural Renewal Internet connectivity, urban exodus after September 11th, and the quest for a better quality of life are all giving rural America a shot in the arm. Differing statistics peg the population of telecommuters at in excess of 20% of the workforce. Since “work” no longer has to be a fixed place, many professionals are getting creative with what they want to see when they look out their window. Doctors, lawyers, computer programmers, consultants, business analysts, and corporate executives are trading urban sprawl for rural utopia. However, the “wired” aspects and aesthetic advantages are imperative to the choice for relocation. During the last decade, more Americans relocated to rural areas than left. The most rapid population increase in population growth in rural areas occurred in more scenic counties in the mountains of the western U.S. In “New Villages for a New Era” research points to a movement of people over 65 to the West. There also appears to be a geographic morphing of corporate America with patterns of corporate management remaining in larger metropolitan areas while line operations are disseminating to smaller less expensive geographic areas and rapidly expansion of home officing. Pressure around the Globe There are a number of external economic pressures that still make tangible assets like land and other forms of more unique real estate a good value. With the continued decline of the U.S. dollar, hard assets are becoming, in some cases, preferable to currency. Furthermore, the declining U.S. dollars makes investment in U.S. real estate holdings by foreign investors a boon. In the shorter term, foreign investors armed with Yen, Euros, and Canadian dollars are finding the U.S. market to be a fertile ground for investment. In the longer term, the world population continues to increase at an exploding rate placing substantial demands upon natural resources. So in the end, be patient, the world population is growing, people are on the move, resources are in demand, and with the current exchange rate, real estate in the U.S. is a bargain. Copyright Trends Digest ™ 2012 All rights reserved.