Posted by Rich-CA on March 28, 2008 at 21:38:26:
In Reply to: rental market posted by Corine on March 26, 2008 at 18:05:25:
You will also need to know what the job market is doing. Newly foreclosed people may take the opportunity to move elsewhere, so you cannot assume many of these people are going to stay. You need to look at things like: strip mall vacancies (these start to show more vacant spaces as people tighten their belts), business relocations, vacancy increases as shown by "move in specials" and the like.
My take is that CA is starting to see job losses exceed job creation due to the looming tax increases and/or state services cuts that are coming down the pike. I know employers that have been keeping jobs in the SF area until the incumbent leaves then opening the replacement job rec in Denver or Phoenix where costs to them are a lot lower (and not just salaries). You really need to see where the economy is going as this drives everything else.
I know No Cal is a LOT different that So Cal, so the specifics may be better or worse.