The Foreclosure Report

New England Home Prices Flat For Years: Study

The Stamford Advocate reports on home prices in the northeast. "Connecticut, New Hampshire and Vermont will be the pacesetters for New England's slow-growing economy through 2010, with Maine, Massachusetts and Rhode Island bringing up the rear, a regional forecast organization predicted Thursday. The forecast group says the recent slowdown in New England's housing market will persist, with prices expected to appreciate an average of less than 1 percent through 2010."

"The New England Economic Partnership said New Hampshire will be the only state in the region to post faster job and overall economic growth than the nation through 2010, while Connecticut will lead the six-state region for growth in personal income and gross state product."

"Massachusetts will continue lagging the nation and the region in employment growth, with Maine suffering continued erosion in manufacturing jobs and Rhode Island's economy slowing after recent growth."

"Ross Gittell, a University of New Hampshire economist, said expectations are lower because unemployment has climbed higher than forecast, fewer people are moving into the region, and New England's manufacturing sector and its leisure and hospitality businesses are lagging. 'There's little hope of a manufacturing employment recovery,' Gittell said. 'Those jobs are not going to be recovered.'"

"The recession that began in 2001 persisted longer in New England than in the rest of the nation, and recovery has come more slowly. After eight consecutive quarters of declines beginning in 2001, the number of jobs in the region finally began to increase in the second quarter of 2003. Housing prices continued to climb in New England during the recession, and have risen well above the national average in recent years. But that is quickly changing."

"The forecast organization predicted housing price growth in New England will decline from an annual average of more than 10 percent in 2000 to 2005 to less than 1 percent through 2010. U.S. housing prices are forecast to rise 3.2 percent per year through 2010."

"The only New England state expected to experience housing price appreciation at a rate higher than the nation's is Vermont. The three states with the highest recent increases in housing prices - Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New Hampshire, are expected to have the slowest growth in housing prices, with Rhode Island expected to experience a slight decline through 2010."

posted by Ben Jones @ 3:15 PM