Highly recommended for those with a stake in housing: the NYT’s Where Housing Once Boomed, Recovery Lags
From the piece:
The official statistics say that the national economy has been growing for almost three years, and that Maryland is growing faster than most states. But in Prince George’s County, where housing prices have fallen more than anywhere else in the state, there is scant evidence of renewed prosperity.
Auto sales are slowly improving nationwide, but car dealers here say the arrival of spring and tax refunds are failing once again to bring buyers to their lots. Contractors who built homes say they are glad for work fixing roofs.
“I don’t think you’ll find anyone in here who will tell you that it’s over,†said the Fish Market’s owner, Rick Giovannoni, gesturing at the half-empty tables.
He paused, then added: “Well, we are selling more drinks.â€
It seems a no-brainer, but the article lays out evidence that areas with high-debt burdens and which were hardest hit by the housing bust have had the weakest recoveries.
In today’s NYT, check out the Economix blog Mapping the Laggards in the Recovery by Binyamin Appelbaum, who also wrote the piece above.
It includes the following map and explanation:
Georgia and the only four states that were arguably harder hit by the bust — Michigan, Florida, Nevada, and California — are all in pink or red, indicating a lagging recovery.