Housing Market Tracker - A sampling of Macro Effects of Housing
Quotes of the Day
“You hear a lot about foreclosure and the thousands of families who are being forced out. But that is swamped by the number of people who want to sell their homes and can’t.” - Joseph S. Tracy, director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
"Homeowners that were in this crisis felt it first. It became a problem for the city when we saw our homes vacant. - "When Wall Street started feeling it, it became a problem for the federal government. This cycle now is coming for the school budgets." - Douglas Palmer, mayor of Trenton, N.J.
Macro
Unsold Homes Tie Down Would-Be Transplants. “Mobility opens up job opportunities… When housing is not an obstacle, more than five million men and women, nearly 4% of the nation’s work force, move annually from one place to another — to a new job after a layoff, or to higher-paying work… Now, unable to sell their homes… tens of thousands of people… are making the labor force less flexible just as a weakening economy puts pressure on workers to move to wherever companies are still hiring… Census Bureau: In a booming [housing] market, interstate migration reached 2.2 million people in 2006… In 2007, interstate migration plunged to 1.6 million people.”
Still The Dream. David Frum, an author and American Enterprise Institute resident scholar: The recent meltdown in the subprime mortgage market is evidence that owning a home might not be the best thing for lower-income Americans. Owning a home makes it hard for poorer people to move to find better jobs... Maintenance expenses are too unpredictable for the badly off. They can lose their shirts… if they can't make their mortgage payments, while a renter is merely evicted. "Maybe we should also question the great American home ownership ideal for middle-class people as well,” Frum added.”
A Subprime Schooling. “Add another group to those feeling the impact of the U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown: students and educators. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 28% of funding for America's public schools comes from local property tax. Property tax revenues, which in many areas of the country had grown along with property values, are poised to remain flat or even shrink in coming years… The U.S. Conference of Mayors [has] projected nationwide decline of $1.2 trillion in home values… California, alone, stood to lose tax revenue of $6.6 billion--more than any other state.”
Sawdust Prices Soar As Supply Dwindles With Housing Downturn. “From Maine to Oregon, the price of sawdust, along with other wood byproducts, has soared. When they can find it, sawdust buyers - dairy farmers, particleboard makers and others - are paying up to $50/ton or more, double what they paid a year ago, some say… In Q1’08, U.S. sawmills have been shipping about 114 million board feet of lumber per day, said Henry Spelter, an economist with the U.S. Forest Service forest products laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin. That's down from 135 million-bf/day in Q1’07, and 160 million board feet in 2006.”
Looking Way, Way Over The Valley With Housing Stocks. “A glimmer of hope: A government report on construction spending in February said outlays for private residential construction spending dropped 0.9% in the month from January, a smaller-than-expected decline. The drop in January was 1.9%... Peter Kretzmer, Bank of America economist: The overall decline in residential construction spending in February was muted by a 5.1% surge in remodeling expenditures. By contrast, “new single-family building fell a large 5.7% in the month, suggesting that the glut of homes on the market continues to suppress construction.”
Food Stamp Use at Record Pace as Jobs Vanish. “The number of Americans receiving food stamps is projected to reach 28 million in the coming year, the highest level since the aid program began in the 1960s… Recent rises in many states appear to be resulting mainly from the economic slowdown, officials and experts say… The Congressional Budget Office projects a continued increase in the monthly number of recipients in the next fiscal year, starting Oct. 1 — to 28 million, up from 27.8 million in 2008, and 26.5 million in 2007… Federal benefit costs are projected to rise to $36 billion in the 2009 fiscal year from $34 billion this year… In Michigan, one in eight residents now receives food stamps.”
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This article has 4 comments:
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FreddieBoy
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14 Comments
Apr 04 12:07 PM-
westwest888
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32 Comments
Apr 04 12:33 PM>“You hear a lot about foreclosure and the thousands of families who are being forced out. But that is swamped by the number of people who want to sell their homes and can’t.” - Joseph S. Tracy, director of research at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
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nitroae23
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13 Comments
Apr 04 07:26 PM-
flatman
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51 Comments
Apr 05 11:10 AM