Spring Bounce? Sales, Construction, Unemployment Improve
Housing statistics in Billings have been grim over the past year, but the latest figures show some improvement. Is Billings seeing a so-called Spring Bounce?
May home sales are up over the same month in 2008:
Construction has also improved, halting its precipitous slide in May and equaling May 2008. However, this still represents a 50% drop from 2007.
Finally, Yellowstone County unemployment declined to 4.6% from 4.7% (which means I was wrong in this post!). For now, Montana is showing strikingly good employment numbers.
One monthly blip does not make a trend, so we'll have to see how the rest of 2009 plays out.
They are decent numbers, but home prices and incomes are still out of whack. I have to believe that until those are corrected there's going to be long term downward price pressure, even if unemployment stays robust. Billings has jobs, but that doesn't mean they pay well.
I should add that real prices can correct without huge nominal price declines. A few years of stagnant or slightly down prices with a modest inflation rate would do the trick too.
It would be really, really nice to have real-time median household income stats. It seems that most people are staying employed, but wages may be falling. We just don't know.