Now There Are Only 4
Real Estate has changed. Only four states remain with enough local housing market appreciation to stay on the Housing Predictor appreciation list for the remainder of 2007. The over-whelming majority of housing markets have deflated throughout the nation.
Just four states have regionally vibrant economies enough to be strong enough to weather the nation’s mortgage crisis storm without substantial damage. At the height of appreciation eighteen made the list.
Record high foreclosures have devastated housing markets in the majority of the U.S. along with higher mortgage rates and an already over-built residential market place. The slow down in home sales has transformed what once was an all-time boom market into the worst housing market that the nation has witnessed since the Great Depression.
However, the current national market place does not resemble the nation’s housing market of the 1930’s. There are an estimated 78 million homes in the U.S. today, the highest number in history and according to a study by the National Bankers Association more than 40% are paid-off without mortgages.
North Carolina
Virginia
Washington
New Mexico
Washington State perhaps has the strongest economy in the nation. Technological powerhouse Microsoft and airplane manufacturer Boeing are huge employers and are expanding with the hiring of more employees in the Seattle area.
New Mexico’s housing markets were a little late to the national real estate boom and as a result of a growing statewide economy the market is generally healthy, despite a slow down in sales, and should remain that way for some time.
Above all the other states in the nation, North Carolina may surprisingly have the strongest housing market. Charlotte has seen home sales slow as the state’s largest city. But the state’s markets overall are racking up sales as if there was hardly a slow down at all.
Despite the national slow down, exceptionally strong regional economies keep the only remaining four states on the Housing Predictor appreciation list.