[EDITOR’S NOTE: 12MC ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED THIS ARTICLE IN 2009. THIS FEATURE NO LONGER EXISTS IN GOOGLE MAPS]
There’s been a capability in Google Maps that allows users to check real estate prices for quite awhile now. However a couple of weeks ago they added this feature to the “more” button on the top right of the map. It’s easier to find, and consequently more visible to me so I’ve actually found an incentive to check it out.
I’ve been playing around with it for a few days and having some fun with it. It’s a little difficult for me to show exactly how this works because the underlying data represent specific points in time. Thus, what I show today will look different to readers who stumble across this article a month from now or a year from now, or even farther into the future.
I’ve decided it might be best to take screen shots and provide them here as graphics. That way, readers can experience what I’ve seen these last few days. I will also provide a link to the map so that future viewers can go there and see if anything has changed.
Evidence of a Downturn
Housing prices are still down in the United States as of November 2009. Some areas have been hit in a particularly vicious manner. It’s difficult to find places hurt worse than Detroit, Michigan. I checked for foreclosed homes offered for sale at less than $10,000, and found the depressing, distressing results. It’s almost unimaginable to me that so many homes are practically being given away. Each red dot represents a family’s heartache and broken dreams. This is the human dimension of a protracted economic downturn.
Not Everyone Suffers, Though
I thought I’d take a look at the other side of the coin by peeking at the rich and famous in Aspen, Colorado. I focused on homes that were being offered at $10 million and up. There I discovered a number of choices if you happen to be so fortunate. It’s way beyond anything I’ll every purchase but somebody must be buying them. Someone could acquire several thousand of those Detroit homes for this one single residence in Aspen. Amazing.
Considering a Geo-Oddity?
Then my geo-oddity personality began to step forward. I decided to check prices within unusual spots such as Point Roberts, Washington. I saw a bunch of properties available in this most exclusive gated community. Of course, a resident will have to deal with customs and immigration twice while driving between Point Roberts and the rest of the United States. So that might be a bit of a turn-off. However the problem disappears if a homeowner happens to own a boat, and Point Roberts does seem to offer a mighty fine harbor.
Around the World
It’s not just real estate in the United States that is included. Anyone can upload information to the map. I have a thing for islands, so let’s take a look at Spain’s Canary Islands, just off the coast of northwest Africa.
Maybe someday.
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