Cohousing-L Mailing List: historical examples of coho development in falling market?

[Kristi Barlow (kristi]

This list is such a great resource, thank you all, and for the first  
time I find myself with a question I cannot answer through the archives.

Here in Brooklyn we are well-poised to take advantage of the changing  
market conditions in terms of purchasing property at a good price (and  
from developers that would otherwise not be interested in selling to a  
cohousing group).

However, at the same time, we are concerned about attracting future  
members to a project whose prices are likely to looking increasingly  
high as the surrounding market declines. Our costs will not drop while  
prices of surrounding new condos (and existing homes) most certainly  
will.

My question for the list today: is there historical precedent for  
successful cohousing development in a sustained falling market? I  
would really appreciate hearing from any who pulled it off (or  
failed), especially regarding building membership under such  
conditions, and what happened when appraisals came in low (did most  
people manage to rustle up the extra cash to make up the difference?  
did many people drop out at the last minute because they couldn't get  
enough of a mortgage? etc).

thank you in advance,
Kristi Barlow, Member of Brooklyn Cohousing (kristi [at] brooklyncohousing.org 
)