More bubble news

In all the outcry about falling house prices, one key possibility is being overlooked. Maybe living in a cookie cutter house in suburbia just plain sucks and the market is starting to reflect that.

The Washington, D.C., metropolitan area has been hit hard. Prices tumbled an average of 11 percent in the past year. That's the big picture. But a look at Ashburn, Va., about 40 miles from the center of town, finds a steeper fall.

In parts of the county, housing prices have dropped 18 percent over that same period. New construction has ground to a halt.

But prices aren't falling everywhere.

It's a different story for properties that are closer to the city's center — in areas of Montgomery County that are on the edge of Washington.

"When I have a listing in this neighborhood, there are often 40 to 60 people coming through the open houses," said Pam Ryan-Brye, an agent with Long and Foster Real Estate.

Inside the city, median home prices are actually up 3.5 percent from a year ago.

This is all very interesting to me from an outsider's perspective. In a small(ish) mountain town I get to enjoy the walkability of an urban neighborhood along with access practically out my back door to lakes and wilderness, but I still have to drive over half an hour for decent paying work in a larger city in another state. I know that this arrangement is not sustainable long-term, as sprawl is already starting to choke the freeway. The decision will eventually be whether to change where I live or where I work... or both. It's a bit of a conundrum, but it is of my own making. Frankly, compared to most people's problems it's nothing.