The Affordability Gap:
Recruiting in the Real Estate Boom
By: Christine Hirsch

Soaring home prices are creating new challenges for recruiters. Asymmetric home values -- especially between the coasts and middle America -- are making it difficult to convince candidates from moderately priced regions to relocate to more expensive regions. Though there has always been an affordability gap in America, the divide is widening as surging home values in hot beds like New York and California outpace the rest of the nation. Not every market has experienced 200-300% growth in home prices these past few years. As a result, its getting harder and harder to convince candidates to accept job offers in places like DC, Los Angeles, and New York

The severity of the affordability gap was highlighted in Coldwell Banker's annual Home Price Comparison Index (HPCI) study. Coldwell Banker analyzed housing prices for a typical home that a middle manager might buy. In other words, the study compared the average cost of a 2,200 square-foot, 4 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, two-car garage homes in several markets. Here's a sampling of average home values from the Coldwell Banker study*:

Read the full article on recruiting in the real-estate boom:
http://www.recruitersworld.com/articles/rw/christine/realestate.asp