Posts Tagged ‘foreclosures’

More evidence of a rural housing crisis

May 18th, 2009

Last week I highlighted a Wall Street Journal article focused on the rise in home foreclosures in rural Minnesota.  Today, I want to draw our readers’ attention to a story on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.   Titled “Rural America Facing More Foreclosures,” the report claims West Virginia’s foreclosure rates have increased 45% in the last year.

Listen to this short story here.

I much prefer positive stories, highlighting potential solutions to problems, but I also don’t want people to think rural places have been unaffected by the downturn in the economy.

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Posted in Housing, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)

Housing crisis catches up to rural

May 13th, 2009

The Wall Street Journal recently put a face on the housing foreclosure problems confronting rural residents in Minnesota. Nestled into this human interest story are some interesting (and unfortunate) statistics that suggest more attention to this crisis in rural places is warranted.  

For instance, foreclosures outside of the Minnesota/St. Paul region of Minnesota have increased by 232% since 2005. 

Also, home values in rural communities have dropped 13% since their peak.  Although this decline is less severe than urban/suburban areas (23%), one must consider another compelling statistic: rural values only increased 45% from 2000-2006, while urban home values increased a whopping 84%.

Get a feel for the reasons rural residents are losing their home by reading this story, titled “Foreclosure Trouble Spreads to Those Who Bet the Farm“.

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Posted in Housing, In the News, Rural | Comments (0)