Alaska Real Estate Market: When Will My Home Value Return?

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Alaska Real Estate Market: When will Home Values Return?

What’s it like to have one of the strongest economies in the nation, despite a doom-and-gloom forecast for the vast majority of states in the union? Just ask an Alaska homeowner.

In fact, if you are an Alaska homeowner, there are quite a few reasons to rejoice.

Let’s first talk about Alaska’s unemployment rate: it dropped in July to 7.7 percent, down from 7.9 percent in June and down from 8.1 percent in July 2009. With a national unemployment rate now at nearly 10 percent, this is a great sign for Alaskans.

Low Unemployment Rates beat the National Average

To fully understand Alaska and its home values, you must first look at several factors, and unemployment is definitely one of them.

Alaska, and its typical “boom-and-bust” economy from years’ past, usually posts higher unemployment rates than other areas of the country. Thus, this low unemployment rate is definitely exciting, especially if you’re a homeowner.

Many Thanks to Alaska and its Strong Industries

Another positive sign for Alaska is its strong industries. Many of its industries, such as fishing and oil, have been quite recession-proof, unlike other states that rely heavily on hard-hit industries such as manufacturing and construction.

One of the state’s largest industries, seafood, has held up well, even given the effects of the recession. Because Alaska doesn’t rely on construction and manufacturing to keep it afloat, this state weathered the economic recession quite nicely and was not affected as negatively as many other states.

Avoiding the Boom-and-Bust Cycle

Although the real estate market did see its peak years during 2007-2008, it hasn’t experienced the boom and bust like other areas of the country. In other words, because Alaska’s home values didn’t soar during the height of the market, they didn’t have very far to fall.

High oil prices have no doubt helped along the economy in Alaska, thereby protecting the real estate market – and particularly, home values – in the process. Finally, the government jobs in Alaska have provided quite a bit of stability to the economy.

What can you expect in Alaska regarding your home’s value? The Fiserv Case-Shiller Indexes paint a very rosy picture of Alaska, as home values are expected to return to their 2007-2008 peak levels by 2013. We can definitely thank Alaska’s strong economy and equally strong industries for that good news.

Largest Cities in Alaska