Mobile predicted to rebound first (York: sales, real estate, foreclosures)

[PortCity]

A New York financial news and opinion organization has picked Mobile as the market where housing values will rise the most this year. The firm making the prediction is 24/7 Wall St., LLC. The company publishes about 35 pieces of content a day and according to their website has readers throughout North America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

The firm is predicting home prices in Mobile will rise by 8.4 percent through 2011, making it the top market in the U.S. when many areas are still in decline. Additionally, the firm is projecting Mobile home prices "will rise the following year by an additional 7 percent, above the expected national average of 1.8 percent."

Merrill Thomas of Merrill P. Thomas, Inc. in Mobile has been in the real estate business for over 30 years. He currently serves as president of the Mobile Area Association of Realtors. "It's a buyer's market," he says "and although it's hard to predict exactly what turns on the buying light, all the ingredients are there."

Thomas pointed to Mobile's stable economy, low housing valuations, no overbuilding, low interest rates and relatively stable overall employment.

He says Mobile's economy has been relatively stable with no tremendous spikes and consequently, "we don't have the big falls when things turn down."

Thomas says that in April of this year, the average home value in Mobile was $130,830 which was 70 percent of the national average. "Mobile is perceived as a value, especially with our transportation system and our quality of life in the Gulf Coast area."
Thomas concludes that "all factors are positive and the grass roots real estate sales agents are seeing improvement

."
http://www.lagniappemobile.com/article.asp?articleID=4597&sid=9 (broken link)

[dougstech]

Ha. Don't believe everything you read, especially from the extremely liberal Lagniappe.

[dailysounds]

I'll have to see it to believe it.

[MPC]

I like the direction of the article but don't exactly trust the credibility of the writers, 24/7 Wall St LLC. Just because they publish 35 articles in daily content and have readers internationally doesn't title them as an expert. I will say personally, I believe in the article but not directly because of what they said.

[Okiefrombama]

PortCity,

The city of Mobile has a huge glut of foreclosures right now. Those who can buy, aren't. You know as well as I do that we are entering into a generation of renters.