Property Values

I suspect many people on these lists view the future of Habitats in
a very libertarian light with minimal government involvement and a
very strong system of property rights.

What happens in orbit when property values escalate, because of a
free market in real estate and workers become displaced?

These are my assumptions:

1.) A consortium builds the first Habitat in order to house workers
for SPS construction and other orbital industries.

2.) These companies want to free up there fiscal and management
capital and not run every aspect of the Habitat. They sell plots of
land to homeowners and small businesses who will provide the diverse
support services needed.

3.) At some point, Earth's wealthy start to slowly buy homes in the
Habitat and the workers take their handsome profits and go back to
Earth.

4.) Low wage workers are priced out of the market.

- San Jose, CA offers local teachers subsidized mortgages so that
they can buy homes closer to where they work.

- Whister, B.C. real estate caters to those with deep pockets and
the army of seasonal low wage support workers have trouble finding
accomodation. Tales of people renting closets are known.

- Aspen, CO is displacing low wage workers:

"While they make the town run, second-home buyers have forced real-
estate prices so high that local workers have spent the past decade
fleeing to cheaper confines downvalley. Towns like Basalt,
Carbondale and El Jebel have felt growing pains from the Aspen
exodus, with real-estate prices in those towns climbing. A median-
priced home in Basalt, 20 miles northwest of Aspen, reached a record
$416,000 last year."

http://tinyurl.com/3ck4x

Do you think that there will be a free market in real estate or will
we see something like what Dartmouth College does for its faculty:

htthttp://www.dartmouthre.com/ehp.htm

"Dartmouth is developing Grasse Road to offer eligible employees the
option to purchase housing in Hanover at a price more affordable
than the general market. Houses range from 1,360 to 2,200 square
feet. All college sales are subject to an option allowing the
College to repurchase the property in the future at a Consumer Price
Index-adjusted price."

Also see: http://www.dartmouthre.com/rofr.htm

Any thoughts? Other than "build another Habitat" because I'm
assuming that these companies want to engage in their core
activities and not be in the real estate development business.
Further, I'm assuming that income is split off from the industrial
and commerical activities to subsidize the community, much like
commerical property taxes are much greater than residential property
taxes here on Earth.

Will the consortium be making a correct decision to sell free-hold
land within the Habitat or will it make more sense to have more
government/consortium restrictions on the sale of the land, or maybe
not even sell the land?

TangoMan