Strong recession recovery

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Colorado Springs is recovering from the recession in nearly every area except housing.

A study by the Brookings Institute places Colorado Srpings’ economic indicators near the top half of 100 metro areas nationwide.

The city ranks in the top 10 for the lowest unemployment rate. Housing prices made it 43rd on the list, while employment changes ranked it 52nd.

Real estate owned properties were rated at 3.46 for every 1,000 mortgageable properties, making it 71st out of 100. The national average is 3.34 for every 1,000 mortgages.

The study showed stark differences among the largest metro areas.

“Signs at the national level that job and income losses are slowing continue to mask the highly variable performance of individual metropolitan economies,” said Alan Berube, research director of the Metropolitan Policy Programs at Brookings. “While several metro areas may have reached a turning point, there are many others that still haven’t touched bottom, as well as a few that have almost fully recovered.”

Metropolitan areas – even in the same region of the country – are recovering at radically different levels. Most even felt the effects of the downturn at a different rate.

Other findings:

• The 20 best performing metro areas experienced average employment losses of 1.7 percent, and 17 have seen home prices rise during the past year. The 20 weakest areas have sustained average employment declines of 8.2 percent, and their home prices have dropped an average of 11 percent.
• Several areas are beginning to recover – Albuquerque, Baltimore, Charlotte, Dallas and Seattle – by posting small increases in the second quarter of 2009, and the remaining 80 saw output decline more slowly. Only Austin; McAllen, Texas and Washington, D.C. showed signs of full recovery in output.
• The sharp drop in auto sales has affected metro areas that depend on the industry for jobs.
• The housing market appeared to be stabilizing in more metro areas, but foreclosures still threaten several. Of the 100 largest cities, 42 experienced inflation adjusted increases in housing prices. But house price declines were stark, and the rates of real estate-owned properties were rising in Florida, Arizona and California.

To see the full rankings, visit http://www.brookings.edu/metro