Middle Tennessee State University has done a great job analyzing the housing market in Tennessee for the 3th quarter, 2009. In the link below they give data on employment, permits, repeat sales, mortgage tax collections, transfer tax collections, foreclosures, and inventory.
Economic activity contracted again for Tennessee’s economy in the third quarter as aggregate measures of employment continued
to decline and the unemployment rate rose (Table 1). Nonfarm employment declined more than in previous quarters, with much of the decline centered in manufacturing and construction.
The unemployment rate rose slightly to 10.7 percent from 10.5 percent in the second quarter, but the small increase should not be considered a sign of improvement because total employment continued to drop. The unemployment rate did not rise much because thousands of persons without work stopped searching for employment, shrinking the labor force at least temporarily.
New claims for unemployment insurance continued to decline in the third quarter but at a slower pace compared with earlier this year (Figure 1). The four-week moving average dropped to 10,031 during the final week of October, the lowest rate since November 2008. Falling initial claims signal that fewer layoffs are occurring, helping to reduce the upward pressure on the unemployment rate. Sustained improvements in the unemployment rate will require more than just fewer layoffs, however; net job creation is needed.
Housing construction and sales provided one of the few positive contributions for the Tennessee economy, but these gains may be tenuous. Sustainable growth in the housing market will require growth of employment and payrolls, both of which appear distant at present.
Read more via Tennessee Housing Market
Somera Capital Management owns the Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport, TN and is expected to enter foreclosure for the Northwest Plaza shopping mall that they own in St. Ann, Missouri. General Growth Properties, who is in bankruptcy manages the Northwest Plaza as well as the Fort Henry Mall in Kingsport.
The redevelopment plans for Northwest Plaza using taxpayers money sounds very similar to the Fort Henry Mall redevelopment plans. See the links below for more information.
Northwest Plaza to enter foreclosure
Redevelopment Plan for Northwest Plaza (City of St. Ann, Missouri)
Troubled days are ahead for those with ARMs as new foreclosures are waiting to crash. This time the sub-prime crisis could pale into insignificance causing the housing crisis to get prolonged and intensify.
Read more via New Foreclosures Waiting to Crash | Government Repo Homes News Center.
WHEN it comes to selling your house or planning your next home equity line of credit, being a nosey neighbor could very well pay off.
Read more via Mortgages – Beware of Neighbor’s Home Foreclosure – NYTimes.com.
This could be your town next. The rise in foreclosures, the dropping of property values, and the slowdown in the economy are not just affecting your bottom line, they are also hitting they are also affecting your local and state governments income.
Remember when things were going gangbusters in the economy way back in 2005?
Well, the local governments did not set aside the extra income for a rainy day, they hired more people and expanded the services they offered to constituents, and spent every last penny as quickly as it came in.
Read more via Local Municipalities Losing Millions in Property Tax Revenue : The Real Estate Bloggers.
Where the deep cuts are
Real estate prices have been dropping for more than a year now, even in formerly strong areas like Manhattan and San Francisco. But where some cities have seen more of their inventory lower their prices, other cities have seen deeper price reductions. For example, Scottsdale, Ariz., leads the nation in terms of having the most discounted homes on the market, but Detroit has the dubious honor of having the deepest price reductions. How bad? The average asking price in the motor city, not including foreclosures, has dropped 23%. For anyone in the market to buy, that’s good news. To find out which other cities have experienced the greatest price drops, read on.
Read more via U.S. Cities with the Biggest Home Price Reductions: Where the deep cuts are – BusinessWeek.
U.S. foreclosure activity in April jumped 32 percent from a year ago to a record high, and should mount because temporary freezes on foreclosures ended in March, RealtyTrac said on Wednesday.
One in every 374 households with mortgages got a foreclosure filing in April, the highest monthly rate since RealtyTrac began tracking it in January 2005. Filings were reported on 342,038 properties last month.
Read more via U.S. foreclosure filings sets record in April, seen jumping | Reuters.
Not ordinary law abiding landlords but fiend landlords who have never been known for their honesty are now thriving in the foreclosure crisis. Previously there rates were low but now they are boldly hiking fees as the crisis worsens and people are becoming homeless.
Read more via Shady Landlords Thriving on the Foreclosure Crisis | Government Repo Homes Blog.
WASHINGTON – The housing market is facing swelling ranks of homeowners who are seriously delinquent but have yet to lose their homes, and this is threatening a new wave of foreclosures that could hit just as the real estate market has begun to stabilize.