Michigan Already in a Recession, are you Surprised?
According to USA Today, Michigan, Florida, Arizona, California and Nevada were already in a recession at the start of 2008. I have heard us referred to as a “one state” recession on many news shows. (Oh well, nice to know we’re not really alone.)
These five states account for one-quarter of the nations total economic output. (Yikes… That is huge.)
Here is the link to go look at specific area’s in Michigan. You will be able to see Ann Arbor and the other large cities in Michigan. According to the map, Ann Arbor is considered already in a recession, but Grand Rapids and other parts of Michigan are “near recession”.
Well, it doesn’t “feel” like a recession in Ann Arbor to me. Homes are selling, and inventory is down from this time last year, when Pfizer announced it was moving. In many parts of Washtenaw County the market is very stable, and the opportunities for buyers now is better than it has been in years.
Economists George Fulton and Don Grimes predict that Washtenaw County will lose a net 1,000 jobs this year before gaining 2,000 jobs in 2009 and 3,000 in 2010. Last year, the county dropped 700 jobs after losing 1,000 in 2006.
George and Don also predict that by 2010 we will have more jobs available in Washtenaw County than the people to fill them. (Oh, Happy Day!)
So Ann Arbor, what say you?
March 13th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
Missy,
Can’t say I’m too shocked about Michigan officially being in a recession. Kinda spooked that Paradise (aka Ann Arbor) is and Grand Rapids isn’t. But, I believe the Pfizer hit on our RE market might be the underlying cause for that.
If that’s the case, then we are nearly out of the woods. My understanding is that these turns tend to run in about 5 year cycles. So, figure March 2006 was when we really started seeing a slow down…we are nearly half way through the cycle, i.e. close to the bottom, if not already there…
Any way, just my 2 cents.
TW
March 13th, 2008 at 6:54 pm
Todd, I hope we are are further along than that. But, regardless, we should be good by 2010. Thanks for stopping by.
March 15th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Why is California Pink?
March 15th, 2008 at 5:40 am
Chris, is it sorta in a recession? close to a recession? between a recession and stable?
March 25th, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Chris,
California is pink because it is auto-selected at the beginning. You can roll over other parts of the map as well and they “light up.”
Took me a while to figure it out too so don’t feel bad.
April 3rd, 2008 at 7:26 am
Arizona Real Estate…
This article sounds well, but how everything is related together?…