What Goes Down Must Come Up……EVENTUALLY, Part 2

Quite some time ago, I wrote this blog post concerning the real estate bubble and the prospects for real estate values in our membership area (Lake and Cook counties).  It’s interesting to go back and read my thoughts and opinions at that point in time.  Market values have rebounded but it took much longer than I obviously thought at the time of that blog post.  It was really an unprecedented event in our economy, both locally and nationally.

While real estate values have fully rebounded in most areas of the country and are actually escalating rapidly again in the Twin Cities and Duluth, our experience has been different.  Property values in all categories bottomed out in 2010.  All property values declined substantially; the most expensive homes, typically Lake Superior and inland lake properties, were hit the hardest.  Bare land also plummeted in value.  All properties in our membership area have rebounded in value but certainly not equally.    

As of the end of 2016, typical family homes (defined as $175,000 or less) have usually regained all their value and are appreciating once again.  Average prices in this category have increased by 36% since 2010.  The number of sales in 2016 increased by 25% over 2015.

Inland lake homes have also bounced back, up 58% from their lowest point, which means they are close to having regained all their peak value.  Even more impressive, the number of sales in 2016 increased by 81% over the prior year. 

Lake Superior properties typically have not fully reclaimed their lost value.  They have rebounded only 18% from their low point.  One bit of good news is that the number of sales in 2016 increased by 66% for this category, which should indicate rising values.

Bare land prices are far from fully recovered, having only recovered 20% of their lost value.  However, the number of sales in 2016 increased by37%.

All of these numbers paint a picture of a recovering real estate market.  Perhaps the best news yet is that the real estate market in 2017 has been even more active across the board.  

Looks like the definition of EVENTUALLY is the summer of 2018………….

Mark

Thanks for Being a Hunger Hero

July marked the end of another Hunger Hero fund raising effort and, again, I'm so proud of North Shore Federal Credit Union members.

We raised $6,900 in our latest Hunger Hero fund raising period!  These funds were just distributed to the food shelves in Cook County, Silver Bay and Two Harbors.  Better yet, these funds will be matched by national food shelf organizations which means the benefit to our local food shelves is actually $13,800.

In the last year and a half, North Shore Federal Credit Union and its members have donated nearly $50,000 to hunger prevention programs within our membership area.  We are truly making a difference in helping many people in need along the North Shore.

The Hunger Hero program is a proprietary program of North Shore Federal Credit Union.  100% of donated funds are distributed to hunger prevention programs that serve the residents of Cook and Lake Counties.  The programs receiving funds are the Food Shelves in Cook County, Silver Bay and Two Harbors; the Back Pack Food program for all students in the Lake Superior and Cook County School districts; and the Ruby's Pantrys programs in Silver Bay and Grand Marais.

Our next fund raising effort will focus on funding the Back Pack Food programs for students in need.  What could be a more worthy cause?

I strongly urge you to enroll in this program.  Even donating $2 per month can make a great difference and its easy to enroll.  Simply ask to join at your next visit to one of our branch offices or visit northshorefcu.org and use the automatic enrollment form.  It just takes a minute to do and any size donation is valuable.  Rest assured that if you ever want to stop the deduction, you can do so at any time.

Thanks for making a difference in the great place that we live.  This helps make it a great place to live for everybody.

Mark