Reports From The Twelve Federal Reserve Districts
Reports from the twelve Federal Reserve Districts indicate that economic activity continued to expand since the last report, but five Districts indicated deceleration while the remaining seven reported little change in the pace of growth. Some slowing in economic growth was seen in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Kansas City, and Dallas Districts, though Dallas still characterized growth as strong. Most other Districts reported continued modest growth, though Atlanta described activity as "mixed", Richmond observed that growth was "slow," while San Francisco noted a "solid" growth pace.
Real Estate and Construction
Housing markets and home construction activity weakened throughout the nation, but commercial real estate and construction strengthened in most Districts. Virtually all Districts reported declines in home sales, as well as in residential construction activity. Moreover, most Districts indicated substantial increases in the inventory of unsold homes; Kansas City attributed some of this increase to "sizable numbers of foreclosures" in some areas. In general, residential real estate contacts expected that housing markets would remain weak, if not weaken further, in the months ahead; such concerns were specified in the reports from Philadelphia, Cleveland, Atlanta, and Kansas City.
Relatively flat or declining home prices were noted in the New York, Richmond, and Kansas City Districts, and decelerating prices were reported in the Philadelphia and San Francisco Districts. The high end of the market was described as particularly weak in the Richmond, Chicago, and Kansas City Districts, as well as parts of the Minneapolis District. In contrast, the high ends of both the Dallas District's housing market and the New York District's co-op and condo market were reported to have experienced less softening than the more moderately priced segments. One area of relative strength in residential real estate has been the apartment market--of the three Districts reporting on this, New York and Chicago both indicate fairly strong demand for apartment rentals since the last report, while Dallas noted continued strong demand for condominiums.
Commercial real estate markets were uniformly described as strong and, in most cases, increasingly so. Office markets showed noticeable signs of improvement in the Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and San Francisco Districts. However, market conditions were described as mixed in the Richmond and St. Louis Districts. The reports on markets for industrial space were not as uniformly positive: Philadelphia, Richmond, and Atlanta reported some firming, whereas Minneapolis noted some softening; industrial markets were described as generally steady in the New York and St. Louis Districts.
With widespread tightening in commercial real estate markets, most Districts also reported increases in commercial development and construction. Increased office construction was reported in the Boston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Dallas, and San Francisco Districts. Minneapolis also reported a pickup in industrial construction while Cleveland and Dallas reported increases in retail development. Public construction activity was described as strong in the Dallas and San Francisco Districts.
Click
here to Find USA Real Estate Agent in your area today,
if you are ready to buy or sell property.
|
