The council of Maple County, concerned about the county's becoming overdeveloped, is debating a proposed measure that would prevent the development of existing farmland in the county. But the council is also concerned that such a restriction, by limiting

Like all businesses, real estate operates on supply and demand. Maple County is concerned about overdevelopment, so they propose to prevent development of existing farmland. With less land for expansion for residential housing, the county could face a rise in the housing market. Chestnut County and Pine County are the examples that Maple County looks to in order to predict what to expect for their own housing prices in Maple County. In order to asset if Maple County housing prices will follow suit with Chestnut and Pine County, we have to look at the populations in each county and also the trend of new residents and its location.

Let's look at Chestnut County. They took the same measure that Maple county is looking to take, to prevent development on existing farmland. That took place ten years ago, and their housing prices only increased at a modest rate. One could predict that Chestnut has not had much of a population increase since the law was put into effect. Now, if there has been an big influx of new residents moving into the county, surely the housing prices will have rose through the roof.

Which is the case of Pine County, whose housing prices have doubled in fifteen years. Let's say before the law was put into place, population in Pine county as about two thousand. For the next fifteen years, population growth has rose to thousand residents. The more than 50% of influx of new residents caused the housing market to rise, because now the demand for houses is high.

Also, we have to factor in the possibly of the location of these counties. Pine County, with the highest cost of housing possibly is in a good location. It can be closer to a major city, good school, nice landscape, and more attractions that many homebuyers might consider when buying a house. Chestnut on the other hand, could be further out into the rural region, provided a longer commute to the city, less activities and attractions. Therefore, it does not attract buyers, so the housing prices has not considerately rose in the past ten years.

So to predict how the proposed measure will affect Maple County, the council could consider the location of the county. Is it near the city? Are there any school close by? Are there any attractions within the county that would appeal to potential homebuyers or new residents? The council could also look at the population trend. Has it been steadily increased? Or static? How are these statistics compared to Pine and Chestnut County? These are some questions that the council could start answering in order to draw a conclusion on how preventing development of existing farmland can affect the housing prices. In order to understand the dynamic of the housing market, the council must take the time to do their research.