KC Foreclosures Increased in 07

The Kansas City Metro Area saw an 83.7% increase in the foreclosure rate between 2006 and 2007. According to RealtyTrac, 1.177% of all housing units in the region were in some stage of foreclosure throughout the past year. Kansas City’s 1.177% was less than the average for the 100 largest metro areas in the country (1.382%) but was higher than the nation as a whole (1.033%).
Out of the top 100 metro areas, Kansas City ranked 40th. The Detroit, MI area had the highest foreclosure rate at 4.918% followed by Stockton, CA (4.866%), Las Vegas, NV (4,228%), Riverside/San Bernardino, CA (3.826%) and Sacramento, CA (3.189%).
The metros with the highest foreclosure rates tended to be in one of 2 areas. The areas most impacted by the bursting housing bubble like Florida or the Southwest. Here, people purchased homes speculatively thinking that the values would continue to skyrocket. When the bubble burst, many people found themselves over extended in their monthly payments and owing more on their mortgages than their home is worth.
The second area of high foreclosure rates was in the rust belt area, where economic troubles have made it difficult for some homeowners to make ends meet.
Kansas City managed to avoid the housing bubble for the most part, and the local economy has proven itself diverse enough to weather economic storms. While we don’t yet know the full impact of the housing foreclosure crisis, these factors should keep Kansas City’s foreclosure rates close to the national average.

Local Employment Figures Not Encouraging

December’s employment figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) showed a weakening local employment picture. Overall employment dropped by 6,377 while the number of unemployed rose 4,619. The unemployment rate rose only slightly (from 4.8% to 5.1%) because the labor force also shrank.
It is difficult to draw conclusions from one month’s data. But after the call of recession was sounded with the release of the weak national employment figures last month, it is noteworthy that the local figures were equally disappointing.