Last week, MarketWatch listed the top five states expected to recover from the nationwide housing slump the fastest and slowest.
Five best housing states
- North Dakota: lowest mortgage delinquency rate (0.9%) and highest price gain since 2005 (7.2%); however unemployment is relatively high (7.5%) compared to South Dakota
- South Dakota: second-lowest mortgage delinquency rate (1.5%) and one of only four states to see a price gain (0.5%) since 2005, plus unemployment is very low (3.7%)
- Iowa: low mortgage delinquency rate (2.2%) and minimal price decline (0.4%) since 2005, plus its unemployment rate (6.8%) is below the national average
- Nebraska: low mortgage delinquency rate (2.0%) and second-lowest unemployment rate (4.4%) in the nation, plus prices only had a modest decline (3.5%) since 2005
- Oklahoma: low mortgage delinquency rate (2.9%) and minimal price decline (2.3%) since 2005, plus a relatively low unemployment rate (6.9%) compared to the national average
MarketWatch writes that there is a patter here: the first states to recover are generally in the middle of the country: “Add Kansas, Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas to that bunch. Other states that fall in to the the early-recovery category include Vermont, Hawaii, Montana, Wyoming, New Mexico, Colorado and New Hampshire.”
Five worst housing states
- Nevada: highest mortgage delinquency rate (8.3%), highest unemployment rate (14.4%), and biggest price decline (56.4%) since 2005
- Michigan: high mortgage delinquency rate (5.1%), second-highest unemployment rate (13.1%), and a serious price decline (31.7%) since 2005—but on the upside, the University of Michigan has a great new football coach in Brady Hoke
- California: tied for second-highest mortgage delinquency rate (6.0%), third-worst unemployment rate (12.4%), and a very serious price decline (40.8%) since 2005
- Florida: tied for second-highest mortgage delinquency rate (6.0%), unemployment rate (11.7%) above the national average, and a severe price decline (46.9%) since 2005
- Rhode Island: relatively modest mortgage delinquency rate (4.9%) is offset by a home price decline (25.6%) above the national average and the fourth highest unemployment rate (11.7%) in the country
See here for MarketWatch’s full analysis.