This past weekend, I biked around town to see the spring construction hotspots in Billings. The result is the following video showing dozens of residential construction sites in 18 subdivisions around town.

This was a fairly quick project, so please excuse the shaky camera and wind noise. Running time is 10:52.



Note that this video has been filmed in high definition. But you'll need to click here to view the HD version (the video above plays in standard definition). It takes a fast computer and a fast connection, but the quality improvement is worth it.

Are Montana banks really safe, conservative lenders that can easily weather a downturn? Now you can judge for yourself. The Bank Loan Performance site has aggregated FDIC filing information so you can quickly view total loan values, portfolio allocation, and delinquency rates for major U.S. banks.

Here's a quick summary of delinquency rates on banks with a major presence in Billings:

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.