New York may bounce back quickly according to Richard Florida, but DC may never take a hit. George Mason University’s Stephen Fuller has a deeper analysis than BusinessWeek but comes to similar conclusions. Hat tip to Danilo Bogdanovic.
As a DC resident (that may have been the first time I’ve used that phrase in over 20 years), I’m not that sanguine. I don’t think it will get really bad here like it is in the state of Florida, but I retain a sense of downward economic pressure. My guess is that there’s still a non-trivial number of real estate properties underwater or bank owned. Even if interest rates go down, single family homes are typically over the line for jumbo loans. Fat chance qualifying for one of those these days. And that plethora of government and contractor jobs just don’t reach the same compensation levels as New York, San Francisco, Seattle, LA, et. al.
Hope I’m wrong though!!