Foreclosures, Census Data, and Tough Times for Real Estate Agents

It looks like pending foreclosures from adjustable rate mortgages are affecting lower income people more then the rich, explains Al Tompkins at Poynter Online. Tompkins looks at recent stories in the St. Petersburg Times (Florida) and Winston-Salem Journal (N.C.) which illustrate this quite clearly.
Black homeownership is falling in Louisville, Kentucky according the the US Census Bureau, reports the Courier-Journal.

Here are some stats about the Louisville metro market that will blow your mind:
39 percent of Black households owned their homes last year
75 percent of White households owned their homes last year
38 percent of Hispanic households owned their homes last year
The interesting fact is that five years ago, black ownership was at 40 percent and hispanic ownership was at a low 26 percent. The big question is – Why are these two groups moving in different directions?
In another report about the recent census, USA Today discusses how the cost to be in a home rose since last census in 2000, while incomes fell, making it much moore difficult to afford to rent or buy a home. “From 2000 to 2005, median home values surged 32%, fueling a consumer boom as homeowners tapped into this wealth. But the sharp rise in home values also boosted the monthly cost to own a home 5%, and to rent one 6.7% . . . The national median income adjusted for inflation was $47,599 in 2000. It dipped to $46,326 in 2005, according to the data.”
Between 2002 and 2004, the number of Realtors climbed 26%, and today there are over 1.2 million. CNNMoney today covered how it is becoming increasingly difficult for many people to make a living working full time as a real estate agent.

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Article Author: Joshua Dorkin

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