As anecdotal evidence of the ongoing financial crisis, the foreclosure rate in Wisconsin jumped in the past month to a new record high! As with other states, the urban areas are being hit the hardest, with Milwaukee County leading the state in the number of newly empty properties.
As for hard statistical evidence, I present the Rental Vacancy Rates, as compiled by the U.S. Census Bureau. There's a lot to be said for this table, but one of the most important notes regards the rent of a 1-unit structure, which actually decreased if one uses the value of a 2007 Dollar. One potential lesson from this is that the dollar didn't actually increase in purchasing power during 2007, in fact it lost such power. When prices increase in this fashion, it is almost certain to be indicative of inflationary growth, as in the growth derived not from any improvement in quality of product or innovative economic organization, but rather from aggregate forces which are reducing the power of the greenback. I believe this phenomenon might be called stagflation. The changes in vacancy rates do not appear to be statistically significant, other than perhaps a slight trending in shorter vacancy times. Which can only be taken as good news, despite the problems that foreclosure causes renters.
Amazingly, the search volume for 'foreclosure' has jumped by double in the past year, and the Internet, in an example of supply meeting demand, has come through with a plethora of sites designed to provide consumers information on foreclosure actions.
On the reverse side, most homeowners are not fully aware of their options when faced with foreclosure, according to Freddie Mac. Thus, many fall easy prey to scams like this one.
1 comment:
Pertinent hilarity!
Post a Comment