ResalesFargo: Recession-proof Economy Continues Housing Boom
While most regions can trace their geology back millions of years, Fargo"s Red River Valley plains are the result of prehistoric Lake Agassiz that ebbed away only 10,000 years ago. The result is a clay-based ground that yields as waters from the Red River ebb back into the area. Occasionally, as in April 2001, the region suffers floods over wide areas.
While you can see for miles over the flat lands, rivers and lakes, you won"t find skyscrapers, as the soil won"t support them, but what you will find is a fascinating city built on "stilts."
This is the Fargo many people recognize by the 1996 movie of the same name, which won seven Oscar nominations, including a Best Picture nomination. Frances McDormand won as Best Actress. However, while the city was showcased through its inept criminal element, most of the action in the picture took place in Brainerd, Minnesota, where the borders of North Dakota and Minnesota nearly meet. Joel and Ethan Coen, the director and producer siblings, hail from Minnesota.
Off the silver screen, the Fargo area has a well-balanced economy based on legal activities, insist residents. It"s home to four colleges, including North Dakota State University, and has a solid industrial and technology job base, say local Realtors.
"This recession-proof community is very progressive," says Realtor Terry Braun. "It"s an excellent place to raise family."
Braun explains, "The Fargo-Moorhead Area has been a strong market. Record low interest rates that have really fueled the market place."
Says Realtor Dan Deutsch, "The late summer early fall market is active in the Fargo and Moorhead area. I"m expecting prices to gradually continue to appreciate with minor slow downs during the vacation season."
He adds, "The real estate market is active with many new areas under development in South Fargo and West Fargo. Interest rates remain affordable at about 7 percent or less for the most part."
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