The WSJ teams with Zillow to confirm the obvious: without jobs a housing market cannot recover.
…Zillow spotted 25 places that are within single-digit percentage points of their home-value peaks. (Zillow found no communities where values have surpassed their high-water marks.) … Look at North Carolina, where three communities appear on the Zillow list. Although North Carolina’s unemployment rate is higher than the national average, all three communities are lower than the state rate. Jacksonville, where values are just 0.1% below their peak, is the home of the Marine Corps’ Camp Lejeune and New River Air Station. Fayetteville has the Army’s Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base. And Durham is one of the vertices of the Research Triangle conglomeration of universities, state and federal government offices, and government, nonprofit and corporate research facilities.
Char-Meck, of course, has been at or above the statewide jobless rate for almost three years now. As a result home values are anywhere from 10 to 20 percent off of their peaks, sometimes more in the case of condos and especially hyped developments. Local home values cannot recover without jobs. Private-sector jobs. Where will they come from?
BofA? Under siege. Wells? Laid off another 1000 the other day. Duke? In the middle of a defensive merger and still hounded by Indiana regulatory officials. The construction industry? Ha!
Obviously this is the perfect time for a $70m. property tax increase.
