Author
The housing market has been one of the great dramas of the past decade; its boom and bust were principal factors behind the financial crisis and Great Recession. Slow home sales and construction have been major drags on recovery. The more recent strength in housing sales and construction has been a significant boon for the national economy. The Minneapolis Fed recently launched a web page to illustrate that drama.
The Housing Market and Mortgage Conditions page shows charts and maps for each state in the Minneapolis Fed’s district and for the nation as a whole, marshaling data to track the number of new mortgages (and thereby home sales), the performance of existing mortgages (trends in foreclosure rates, for instance) and the ups and downs of housing prices. By following these indicators before and since the burst of the housing bubble, the Conditions page gives perspective on the strength of the current recovery. It also shows clearly how much further we need to go to get back to normal.
Take in the drama. Tickets are free.
Joe Mahon is a Minneapolis Fed regional outreach director. Joe’s primary responsibilities involve tracking several sectors of the Ninth District economy, including agriculture, manufacturing, energy, and mining.
