The price of oil keeps dropping raising two questions: how much longer can in continue to drop and how will this decrease effect the rest of the US economy, in particular, real estate? The first question is impossible to answer, of course. The second question really must be answered in two parts: short-term and long-term.

Short-term, the low price of oil helps many consumers as they are able to spend their money elsewhere, which, of course, has a ripple effect throughout the entire economy. On the other hand, those companies dealing with energy will see decreased profits ultimately resulting in layoffs which most certainly will not be a good thing.

As to real estate, the high prices in cities has caused many to look to the outlying suburbs for housing for a while now. Low gas prices will certainly continue this trend as many may feel they can afford to buy a bit farther from their workplace as long as the price of transportation remains low.

We’ll see as time goes by…