TOM MAST Star-Tribune staff writer | Posted: Sunday, August 17, 2008 12:00 am
Recent increases in Wyoming home prices slowed dramatically in the first quarter 2008.
The state Economic Analysis Division said home prices increased by only 0.3 percent from fourth quarter 2007 through the first quarter 2008, the slowest since third quarter of 1999.
This followed increases of about 2.5 percent in the second and third quarters 2007, which represented the largest appreciation rates the U.S.
Senior Economist Wenlin Liu said troubles in the national housing market seem to be rippling into Wyoming. Building permits and existing home sales also were off when compared to first quarter 2007.
The troubled national housing picture and associated credit crunch could be making people more cautious about buying, he said.
Even so, the state's foreclosure rate remained among the lowest in the nation.
Liu said high corn and fuel prices exacted a heavy toll on Wyoming farm and ranch earnings in the first quarter, which dropped by over $100 million.
"Wyoming is not crops, but livestock," he said. "That's why when the crops price is high, it negatively affects Wyoming livestock."
The price index received by ranchers for all Wyoming livestock and products was up 4.3 percent from a year earlier, but the gain didn't offset higher costs.
The state revenue picture was positive in the first quarter, with investment income reaching $101 million. Much of the increase for the past several years can be explained by additional severance taxes flowing into the Permanent Wyoming Mineral Trust Fund principal.
Over $221 million in mineral severance taxes were collected in first quarter 2008, or a 4 percent increase from a year earlier. It was the first such increase since fourth quarter 2006.
Liu said growth is largely related to sharply higher energy resource prices, particularly natural gas.
Total personal income growth in Wyoming slowed to just 0.8 percent in the first quarter, due largely to the big drop in farm earnings.
The unemployment rate in the first quarter stood at 2.8 percent, while it was 4.9 percent nationally.
In recent months, the state's unemployment rate has been creeping up, from 2.6 percent in April to 3.6 percent in July, according to the Research and Planning Section, Wyoming Department of Employment.
Business Editor Tom Mast can be reached at tom.mast@trib.com, or call 307-266-0574.