Job Numbers Rise in Top Three Foreclosure States
Nevada, Arizona, and Florida, the top three foreclosure states, all saw job numbers rise in February, the Labor Department reported.
Palm Coast, FL – March 28, 2010
By Laurent Belsie – Christian Science Monitor
The three US states with the highest foreclosure rates saw job numbers rise last month, a sign of a potential turnaround in their troubled housing markets.
Arizona, Florida, and Nevada all saw their payrolls jump, according to data released Friday by the US Department of Labor. For Florida, it was the first rise in employment in 26 months.
The upturn in jobs, if it can be sustained, could provide an important boost to the housing market. As more people have jobs, the more they can afford to pay an existing mortgage or take on a new one.
Back to basics
This is a good sign for sure. As the Nation begins to find its way through this mess I believe we will see Florida getting back to basics. For those of us who were around in the late 90’s Florida was considered an affordable place for retirees to come. It wasn’t uncommon for a retired police officer from New York to uproot, move here, and live like a king because he could afford to buy a house for cash then live handsomely off his pension.
Florida already offers so much in "natural" appeal with the sun, beaches, popular destination (i.e. children and grandchildren will visit), and best of all, no snow! Thankfully, we can’t quickly screw any of those things up like we did the housing market.
Once we sort through the inventory and start being an affordable place to live again we will see our population begin to rise, jobs being created to serve the larger population, and of course tax revenue being paid again. It almost sounds like a nice warm fuzzy dream but hopefully we will get there sooner rather than later.