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
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.
U.S. foreclosure activity for May ebbed from April’s record, but mortgages still failed at a staggering pace as President Barack Obama’s rescue programs had not had time to fully take root, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.
Foreclosure filings dipped 6% in the month but increased 18% from May 2008, marking the third highest month on record.
Read more via Foreclosures Third Highest on Record in May – FOXBusiness.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.
Americans everywhere are feeling the recession’s pain – some more than others. Click on the link below to see your state rank
Read more via Where does your state rank? – CNNMoney.com.
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.
Foreclosure rate grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year
The number of American households threatened with losing their homes grew 24 percent in the first three months of this year and is poised to rise further as major lenders restart foreclosures after a temporary break, according to data released Thursday.
Read more via Number of Homes Threatened With Foreclosure Rose Sharply – ABC News.
Kingsport, Tennessee could be in the same situation as Elkhart, IN if something happens to Eastman Chemical. What does it take to wake up our politicians and get them to be more diversified in the industry here?
In hard-hit Elkhart, leaders and citizens are exploring all economic options
In a sense, the entire community is hitting the reset button. With the virtual collapse of the RV industry, long the mainstay of the economy, nearly 20 percent of workers in the area are unemployed, about triple the number a year ago. Meantime, the jobless benefits system, food banks and emergency assistance programs are struggling to meet demand, and home foreclosures are climbing. Elkhart — dubbed the “RV Capital of the World” — is scrambling to attract new industries and to retrain its workforce for new occupations. The task is more daunting amid a national economic crisis.
“We’ve not had to do it, and I guess you don’t do things when you don’t have to,” said Elkhart Mayor Dick Moore. “I think we’ve learned a lesson, and we’ve learned that we’ve got to be more diversified in the industry here.”
Read more via A city struggles: ‘We are back at square one’ – The Elkhart Project- msnbc.com.
Nebraska Tops the List, While Oregon’s High Unemployment Brings Up the Rear
If it’s financial happiness you’re seeking for your next move, then the Midwest may be your best bet because according to a new study Nebraska tops the list of happiest states, fiscally.
The home of the Cornhuskers, Kool-Aid and the world’s largest porch swing ranked No. 1 on MainStreet.com’s Happiness Index, which used unemployment figures, foreclosures and nonmortgage debt to determine a state’s overall financial well being.
"We don’t go clear out on the edge with projects. We kind of go pay as you go. That’s more what we like to do in Nebraska. We don’t get the huge good time, but we don’t get the huge bad time either," said Hastings Mayor Vern Powers. "We kind of stay in a little flatter area. In the long term, we think that’s what’s best."
Read more via The Happiest States
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