Will Rural States Lead a Housing Recovery?

REALTOR® Magazine's Daily Real Estate News | June 30, 2011

Will Rural States Lead a Housing Recovery?

A recovery in the housing market is already taking hold in several rural states, the USA Today reports.

North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, and Alaska weathered the collapse of the housing market better than the majority of states. These states’ economies boast some of the highest employment rates with economies that are dependent on stable industries like energy, industrial, and agricultural sectors.

Many small Midwestern states also are seeing a recovery in their housing markets, Jonathan Smoke, executive director for research for Housing IntelligencePro, told USA Today.

Here are some more signs that the rural states are leading a housing recovery:

States with the strongest rebound in non-distressed home sales: North Dakota, Iowa, and Wyoming have seen the strongest rebound in numbers of non-distressed home sales, according to a study by Housing IntelligencePro, which tracks real estate in 800 markets nationwide. Nearly every state saw sales decline from 2006 (the housing peak in most parts of the country) to March of this year, except for North Dakota. Sales there actually rose in that period.

Largest increases in price per square foot: Oklahoma and Nebraska saw the largest increases in prices per square foot for non-distressed homes. Oklahoma boasted a 17 percent increase while Nebraska saw a 12 percent jump in price per square foot, according to the Housing IntelligencePro study.

Fewest delinquent loans: Many of the rural states are also boasting the fewest delinquent loans, which usually equates to fewer foreclosures. The states with the lowest percentage of delinquent loans or those in foreclosure are Montana, Wyoming, Arkansas, South Dakota, and North Dakota, according to Lender Processing Services.

Source: “Housing Turning Around in Spots; Recovery’s Afoot in Several Rural States,” USA Today (June 30, 2011)

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Best Choice Home Show Home Parade! Saturday & Sunday February 12th & 13th!

Home Show Hits the Swiftel Center February 12th & 13th!

The 21st annual Brookings Regional Builders Association Home Show comes to the Swiftel Center in Brookings, SD this Saturday and Sunday, February 12th and 13th.

The two-day event will be FREE to the public!  Come check out the great home related products and services available throughout the Brookings area and local businesses.  Representatives from the local businesses and service providers will be available in their booths with information pertaining to their products and/or services.

Looking for some home related How-to's?  Attend one of the many seminars to become more informed on a wide array of  topics.

For more information please visit the Brookings Regional Builders Association's website here

For Best Choice Real Estate and Brookings4Sale.com this is REALTOR® Justin Fjeldos saying, "See you at the Home Show!"

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Way to go, Brett! Check out this great article explaining the benefits from purchasing real estate in the current market conditions. Nice to finally see some positive perspective.