Actually, here in Canada, old houses are grandfathered..if you don't repair something with a licensed contractor, or the licensed contractor isn't up on code changes you don't have to change anything. My mother (a now-retired geriatric nurse) actually had a 95 year old client living in the same home her husband built when they got married. 1 electrical socket, no running water, no other electricity. Not up to code, but until she decided to do some fixing it's still legal.
Not safe-but quite legal.
You don't *have* to keep your house up to code, but if you're planning on renovations, you may run into an issue spending more money than you planned if you're not, as you'll then be required to bring the rest up.
Another example: attached garages and back decks. Now all back decks and garages are required to be self supporting, and can no longer be directly attached to a house (at least here). We have both. My parents couldn't build one, as it was, by then, no longer within code, but we can have one because it's pre existing. There's laws like that for certain vehicles as well, so I understand.
(incidentally-the reason why they have to be self supporting? Well, last year our neighbors down the road paid somone who was..well..not quite official..to put on a back porch, it was fully screened in with closing floor to ceiling windows-we have a lovely view and I don't blame them. However, two weeks later it, and about two thirds of their back wall was ripped off in a windstorm. If it had been self supporting and not attached, all they would have lost was the porch.)
Reassessment happens within most municipalities, however in more rural areas you're less likely to worry about it. Municipalities like to reassess so they can recalculate the income for their given area, it also helps in applying for further non municipal increases, and looks good on reports to be able to show a city's net worth is increasing.
Our national housing industry is going through a high point right now. Unfortunately a lot of that is in condo purchases in more heavily populated areas. It artifically inflates the values of properties as a number of our realtor companies go by national averages, and decrease based on local average incomes. They're not, apparently taking into account the types of properties that are selling, and that may be by their own conscious choice-bigger sales give bigger commissions. I don't know. Regardless, in Canada, it will take a dip soon.
Honestly, in most places it will. Demographics has a large impact on economic values of certain goods. It's why products are tailored via age group. And if you're in North America, you're part of the world that has an "aging population" issue. As much as the aging generation wants to stay home, there comes a point where it simply is no longer possible, and you will have a larger percentage of the population being forced to make that decision in the coming years than has..I'd hesitate to say..ever happened in NA.
Unless there's an upswing in decentralization (actually it's going more towards centralization, and that's pretty much everywhere), a huge boost to the economies in a number of countries, or a worldwide realization that since everyone's in debt, the only debtors left keeping score are the banks, we're going to see a drop in real estate and likely a number of houses simply abandoned as noone can afford to buy them-or, at least-not many.
Even my husband and I may end up with four houses (two not even in the same city-one in another country) simply because we won't be able to sell them. Though, to be fair, the one across the pond will probably be sold fairly easily-an influx of immigrants makes housing much more priority-though from what I hear it's mostly companies turning them into apartments and renting now.
The world has changed since the 50s. A house, two kids and a car just isn't as achievable as it used to be. Even the hubby and I see kids, at this point as a luxury we simply cannot afford. In fact, our minimum wage isn't enough to cover my cab fare to and from work, with my lunch and taxes taken out (including the lovely national pension I will never see). I would have to work full time above minimum wage to be able to *afford* to work (also calculate for the next tax bracket up, because it'd be just enough to bump us into it).
Life is strange sometimes.
