Housing market rebounds

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The CBT compiled data and expert commentary to provide an in-depth look at real estate and construction trends in Columbia

Landmark Bank’s Jeff MacLellan, who’s been charting Columbia’s economy for 23 years, said the housing market appeared to have bottomed out in the fourth quarter.
He pointed out, however, that the number of homes sold during the first three months of this year is comparable to the number in 1999. “We’re coming off a pretty low base.”
Although positive data from the first quarter of this year “doesn’t make a trend, it does look like we’ve turned the corner,” MacLellan said. “Any recovery of the housing market is likely to be prolonged.”
Here are some of the key statistics from MacLellan’s annual economic review:

Houses sold

• 2005 – 2,900
• 2006 – 2,301
• 2007 – 2,079
• 2008 – 1,715
• 2009 – 1,831

Total value of building permits

• 2007 $214 million
• 2008 $144 million
• 2009 $168 million

Market value of all Boone County property

• 2007 $6.1 billion
• 2008 $6.8 billion
• 2009 $6.8 billion

Building permits for single-family houses

• 2005 – 1,008
• 2006 – 559
• 2007 – 438
• 2008 – 238
• 2009 – 280