North dakota: the USA's most stable property market
Photo credit: Porchlife
The state, which is at the heart of the Bakken Formation oil play that has revolutionised the US energy industry, has been leading the country for years with its record unemployment rate. Since the start of 2014, it has also been crowned the happiest state in the US and has had the honour of being named the most expensive place to rent property in the country. Now, North Dakota is also taking home the trophy for being the most stable housing marketing in the US.
Figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for January 2014 put unemployment in North Dakota at just 2.6% - the lowest rate in the US and well ahead of the national average of 6.6% for the same month. In some of the counties where oil fracking is at its peak, the unemployment rate is lower than 1%.
Yet that wasn't enough for North Dakota and at the start of 2014 it toppled Hawaii as the happiest state in the US, according to the annual Gallup wellbeing ranking. Determined to show it still has more to offer, North Dakota then went on to be named the most expensive place to rent accommodation in the US, with the Apartment Guide survey reporting that at the end of 2013 a one bedroom, one bathroom 'entry-level apartment' in North Dakota rented for the princely average sum of $2,394 per month.
All of this has been due to the incredible oil play underway in the state, which is now responsible for North Dakota also being highlighted as having the most stable housing market in the US. The Freddie Mac Multi-Indicator Market Index, released on 26 March 2014, analysed data from a wide range of sources, including mortgage applications, payment-to-income ratios and employment in order to produce a comparative stability ranking of US states. The result? Another trophy to add to the cabinet for North Dakota.
While the rest of the US has suffered through the housing crash triggered in 2006/07, North Dakota has ignored the market's turbulence, with house prices rising 39% between 2006 and 2013, based on data from the Federal Housing Agency.
Local property investment expert Robert Gavin, Group CEO of award-winning developer North Dakota Developments, was thrilled - if not too surprised - at the news. He comments,
"For those of us working in the property industry, this news is confirmation of something we have known for a long time - that North Dakota is leading the US when it comes to the stability and profitability of its real estate sector. The oil boom here has attracted tens of thousands of workers to the state and companies like North Dakota Developments simply can't build accommodation fast enough to house them all. We're certainly giving it our best shot though!"