As America struggles to rebound from the collapsed housing market, recovery may take decades, and some communities may never fully recover, according to a recent study sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. In fact, the author of A Study of Real Estate Markets in Declining Cities suggested that some neighborhoods in hard-hit communities may “never come about.”
Because of this reality, many Notary Signing Agents are taking the initiative to look for new deal-flow in different regions and diversifying their services to discover new revenue streams. Also, while many communities are struggling, there are others showing signs of growth.
Still, James Follain, a senior fellow with the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government in Albany, New York, said in a statement that communities such a Cleveland, Ohio, which had been suffering economic and population declines long before the recession hit, would continue to experience a struggling housing market: “People have left, but the houses, apartment buildings, offices and storefronts remain.”
The study also notes that some formerly thriving locales have become declining cities. The prime example illustrated in the study is Stockton, California, which saw its housing market explode during the real estate boom. During the boom, relatively low housing and gas prices helped turn some Stockton neighborhoods into distant bedroom communities for San Francisco. But the housing industry overbuilt, leaving the city with a glut of homes.
Stockton’s housing market may not return to 2005 levels until 2030. “There are neighborhoods and submarkets within metro areas that have passed a tipping point and have little prospect of returning to anything close to their previous levels,” the study notes.