Olde Cape Cod is no bargain anymore!
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7/12/2006
Like the song of the 50s and 60s..."If your fond of sand dunes and salty air, quaint little villages here and there, you sure to fall in love with Olde Cape Cod..." The lyrics are still true, lots of very protected sand dunes, quaint little villages (although some are no longer quite so quaint), and yes it is a great place to be...beautiful, picturesque, wonderfully detached from the rest of Massachusetts (except for politics, unfortunately), and still the place I call home. But alas, I can no longer afford to buy a home here...prices have caught up with Boston, Fairfield County, and Metro NYC...Gone are many of the little cottages by the sea, replaced by McMansions with 2-3 car garages, central air, 4 bedrooms or more and 3 or more bathrooms.) For those how bought before 1999 there is plenty of equity as housing prices have skyrocketed with the worst fixer-uppers in Hyannis going for well over $200,000 now.
The employment situation is terrible if you are looking for stable year-round employment with benefits which makes living here more difficult. Due to property values rising, real estate taxes are rising faster! Rents are only slightly less expensive than in Boston, and climbing steadily.
But still it is my dear sweet Olde Cape Cod, and I love it here and would hate to be forced to leave. However there must be somewhere as nice but far less expensive...at least I can dream!
Lynn | Barnstable Town, MA