Posted on December 17th, 2007 — in Economy and Business :: Growth, Development & Infrastructure :: State of the State
According to data released by the economic research and forecasting firm Global Insight last week, five of the 20 top overvalued housing markets are in California. 63% of housing markets nationwide are overvalued, according to the data.
The five housing markets in California that fell in the top 20 were (along with cost of an average house in the third quarter of 2007):
- Madera ($291,600; overvaluation 62.3%)
- Merced ($248,300; overvaluation 56.6%)
- Riverside-San Bernardino ($329,600; overvaluation 44.6%)
- Bakersfield ($219,300; overvaluation 42%)
- Los Angeles ($512,900; overvaluation 42%)
Posted on December 10th, 2007 — in Economy and Business :: State Budget :: State of the State
Two reports about state and national economic conditions were released recently by the UCLA Anderson Forecast and the Chapman University A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research. They don’t make for pleasant reading, although one is slightly less pessimistic than the other.
The UCLA Anderson forecast predicts “a slightly slower and prolonged period of sluggishness for the state’s economy, but no recession in California.” The prediction is for 6.1% unemployment in the state by the end of 2008, along with 1-2% growth in gross state product and personal income. The prediction seems to indicate worse to come in 2009, however, with the expectation that “contraction in state and local government will derail the momentum of a private sector beginning to recover in 2009.” The Chapman University forecast predicts positive annual growth of 0.9% next year nationwide, a decline of $125 billion in new housing construction nationwide, and only 0.1% in job growth in California. The conclusion: “The Anderson Center is forecasting a recession in 2008.”