Posts (RSS)Citys Economy Grow Despite Repossessed Homes Woes
The MetroMonitor study showed that the city of McAllen, Texas saw growth in output and employment during the first three months of this year despite the continuous increase in the number of repossessed homes.
Brookings Institute’s national study tracked various economic indicators in the country’s 100 biggest metropolitan areas.
According to the study, McAllen is the only city across the country that experience growth in the total value of services and goods during the first three months of this year, when recession was at its all-time low. The study tracked the performance of various economic indicators in 100 biggest metropolitan areas in the country.
The study showed that while there was no city that has not been affected by the economic downfall, recessional problems have been distributed unevenly across major cities in the country.
Brookings Institute researcher Howard Wile said that the effect of the economic recession in different areas suggests that they have different needs. He added that cities that have been severely affected by the recession need additional state funds.
The study monitored major cities? unemployment rate, employment, housing prices, gross metropolitan product, wages and the number of repo homes that remained on the market after the auction, to determine the area’s economic strength. Six cities in Texas made it to the top 20 metro areas that have positive economic performance.
Meanwhile , foreclosure home sales in McAllen fell below the previous year’s rate and the number of repossessed home filings continues unabated across the city’s real estate market. But the city’s overall performance is better off than others, indicating that the market is showing some signs of stabilizing.
The city outdid the national average in terms of economic indicator performance, except in unemployment which surged by 10.1 percent in January of this year, then started declining again until in May when it increased by 9.4 percent.
In May, job losses were reported mostly in production and manufacturing sectors while the city’s nonagricultural unemployment rate, inflation-adjusted sales in retail and inflation-adjusted wages continue to fall this year.
On the other hand, housing prices in McAllen increased by 2.3 percent in the first quarter of this year compared with last year. However, overall prices were still lower than their peak prices because of the flood of repossessed home in the area.