wichita kansas, how is the economy? (Kansas City, Green: for sale, real estate, foreclosure)

[mybookroom]

How is the economy in Wichita? What drives the economy in Wichita? Is the housing market going up? I might be moving to Wichita soon. I'd love some information/opinions about the area. Thanks.

[drjones96]

Depends on who you talk to. For some the local economy isn't too bad.....but if you're a laid off aviation industry employee....well....maybe not so much.

The big industry in town is the aircraft manufacturing plants...hence the phrase "Air Capital". Lots of people in Wichita make their living in this industry...including myself. When the economy took a dump.....so did the aviation industry. And a lot of people got laid off over the last year or so. Things are going to be pretty stagnant for us till probably 2011-2012 when we are predicting growth....but it won't be an immediate return to the levels we were seeing in 2007-2008.

I'd say the housing market is pretty flat. It hasn't cratered like some areas of the country but it's definitely not booming. My neighborhood development is very slow going....many empty lots.....and not much construction going on. Seen several houses within a stone's throw foreclosed on.

[Jenngi81]

It all depends on where you are moving from. We just moved here in October from Greenville, South Carolina and the economy here is sooo much better but it could be worse then other places.

[goofygoober]

It is holding on or not sinking as fast as many parts of the country but it is slowing. Even in the past week I had a friend who applied for a job real estate related and just in a week the person who was hiring went from very upbeat to very down beat about the market. It is slowing here, but hey you can still look at the oil wells, it is the state tree here that or telephone poles. Flat and boaring they do not call it fly over for nothing.

[athfo]

Originally Posted by goofygoober

It is holding on or not sinking as fast as many parts of the country but it is slowing. Even in the past week I had a friend who applied for a job real estate related and just in a week the person who was hiring went from very upbeat to very down beat about the market. It is slowing here, but hey you can still look at the oil wells, it is the state tree here that or telephone poles. Flat and boaring they do not call it fly over for nothing.

There's our old friend upandrunning, reliable as usual!

[dirk2010]

I've been looking for a job for 6 months in wichita and im a certified composite technician everytime a job opening comes up there are more than 50 to a 100 people applying for that positionif that says anything

[vb_guy]

The economy in Wichita does not change with the rest of the country. The issues with the economy that were felt in other places did not hit here until about a year and a half later, so we're going through the recession now. As someone mentioned above, we are heavily dependent on the aircraft industry, so when that tanks, the rest of the economy tanks. When it flourishes, the rest of the economy follows. As far as real estate, we didn't see the insane fluctuation in prices that many other areas did, and the prices stayed affordable. The only issues here deal with commercial real estate, and that's because banks are so unwilling to lend money for those projects. That has put some developments on hold.

All in all, it's a reasonable place to live. It's a manufacturing town, so there are not as many opportunities for professionals like there are in places like Des Moines, Omaha, and Kansas City (which is part of the reason my family may be relocating). But if you're okay waiting for a few months for a job, you should be okay.

[drjones96]

It could be years before there is a noticable upswing in the local economy. If there is any growth over the next year or so it's going to be small.

There are jobs available. However they may not be exactly what you have in mind. There are plenty of low wage jobs available. If you are ok with making $10-15/hr there is a good chance you could find something. But be prepared to compete with a whole host of other applicants.

There are pockets of sunshine, however. While in a previous post I commented that there were several houses around me that were foreclosed on....the same houses were sold and moved into recently. Also there were 3 houses that have been sitting empty for 1-3 years that finally sold. The house directly behind me had been sitting empty for nearly 4 years. These were all houses that were newly built that were just sitting there without a buyer. I can only assume that this has something to do with the home buyer tax credit. This is just a data point in the grand scheme of things but if this is representative of the housing market as a whole things could be looking up. It will take some time before this ripple makes waves in the economy. It took a few years for the subprime mess to make it's way through the economy.....I can only assume the reverse will be true.

[vb_guy]

I have a feeling that "pocket of sunshine" is dependent on the neighborhood. Obviously, I don't know where you live, but I've seen too many $175K-250K houses in my mother-in law's neighborhood with "For Sale" signs in front of them. The development is going through tax foreclosure now, which tells me that the people who would normally buy houses in this price range either are reluctant to buy or can't afford to buy.

Personally, I can't buy a house at the moment, because I can't qualify for a mortgage. I work a $10-15/hr job, and banks won't lend to me because of that. I wonder how low the houses in your neighborhood sold for?

[drjones96]

^The houses that were in forclosure sold for well under their value. There was one foreclosed house in particular that was probably THE nicest house in the neighborhood....would probably appraise for $300K+.....and rumor is that it sold for $260k.

The builder owned houses actually sold around listed price but they were offering incentives now that they weren't offering 2 years ago.