Boomer’s Blog

Nationwide, single-family home prices in March dropped 14.1 percent from last year. It was the sharpest decline recorded since Standard and Poors began tracking the data in their Case-Shiller index some 20 years ago. What does this tell seasoned real estate entrepreneurs about future investment strategies? Now’s the time to start crunching some numbers.

Creative real estate veteran Ken Wade believes that there is nothing truly unusual about today’s housing market: There’s no crash, and the media focus on handful of markets is having a devastating impact on market psychology and prices. In reality, what we’re experiencing as real estate entrepreneurs, is the natural cycle that moves the market.

Since most U.S. housing markets were not subject to the price surges that are commonly associated with the real estate “boom,” Ken says, they’re holding steady during the “bust.”

Ken is the Harvard-educated numbers cruncher behind the Housing Alerts Total Market Master system for research-based real estate investing. He has spent much of his career tracking local real estate market trends and reaping the profits from his investments. Ken estimates that he’s done $100,000,000 in real estate deals over the past 30 years.

With Ken’s Total Market Master program and tools, real estate entrepreneurs can base their business decisions on the same types of proprietary data that the banks and major players use. Only with this system, the data are specifically tailored to fit the needs of an array of real estate entrepreneurs, regardless of investment strategy, experience or style.

To learn more about how Ken translates the “buy low, sell high” adage into hard science and cold cash, check out my review of the Housing Alerts Total Market Master system in the Resources section of GaryBoomershine.com.

Black gold is making real estate investment king in states that produce energy by fueling prices in dozens of local U.S. housing markets.

Today, the price of crude oil topped $135 per barrel, up from $65 this time last year, and experts are predicting that the price is likely to reach $200 before too long. While difficult for most of the world to swallow, these prices are producing a boom in some U.S. housing markets, while others languish in an ongoing struggle for economic survival.

Because soaring oil prices result in higher consumer costs for gas, energy bills and food, local economies in many housing markets still reeling from the foreclosure epidemic are suffering from lower tax revenues and other harsh realities. Once-thriving infrastructures appear to be fizzling out in many of the markets that saw the greatest gains during the housing boom.

Give and Take
At the same time, high fuel costs are driving hot housing markets in many energy-producing states. In these real estate markets, high gas prices are stimulating job growth, boosting personal income, contributing to a healthy tax base and rising demands for housing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that five states producing oil, gas and other fossil fuel commodities are beating April’s national unemployment rate of 5 percent and personal income growth of 5.9 percent by significant margins. Here are the numbers from some of the hottest energy producing states for the sake of comparison to the overall national average:

Montana

• Unemployment rate: 3.8 percent;
• Personal income growth: 6.6 percent.

North Dakota

• Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent;
• Personal income growth: 6.4 percent.

Oklahoma

• Unemployment rate: 3.2 percent;
• Personal income growth: 7.0 percent.

Texas

• Unemployment rate: 4.1 percent;
• Personal income growth: 7.4 percent.

Wyoming

• Unemployment rate: 2.6 percent;
• Personal income growth: 6.8 percent.

Since many of these states never experienced the real estate price surges that came with the housing boom, they’re not being ravaged hit by the bust. This may factor significantly into long-term real estate investment stability as the overall U.S. economy struggles to overcome recession, lost revenues and other related economic pangs.

Shelter from Recession’s Storm
Because energy producing states currently are boasting more robust tax revenues, public infrastructures are thriving: schools, hospitals parks and law enforcement are well-funded, roads are better maintained and additional funding is available for the improvements that contribute greatly to property value increases.

These factors all work together to improve the quality-of-life assets that attract qualified buyers for home relocation and up-sizing. When such conditions are in place, they also stimulate the service industry and retail sectors, prompting them to expand their presence, poised to join the party.

Nature Takes her Course
In energy booming states, especially those that smartly diversified their economies during former energy market declines to minimize their economic dependance on oil prices, these indicators offer real estate entrepreneurs broader investment options than many other markets. Currently, they’re generating demand for many different types of housing: rental properties, low-income housing, single family homes and retirement communities, to name a few. When favorable market conditions spark demand, the nature of capitalism takes its course.

Boom and Bust Economy
In the past, real estate markets in energy-producing states were vulnerable to the boom and bust economic cycle. When energy prices would surge, local economies would quickly grow, only to be subjected to painful busts when energy prices inevitably declined. Today however, analysts are saying that we may never again see dramatic declines in oil prices. So as long as the supplies hold out, and local economies strike a healthy balance, these markets look like promising investment opportunities. Savvy real estate entrepreneurs may want to take a look at what some of the up-and-coming markets in energy producing states have to offer their portfolios.