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Industry Trends – June 2009

Where is the summer going?  Already the end of July, but not to worry as we have a fresh batch of industry trends for you just in time for month end. A bit of housekeeping before we talk about the highlights of the report: For those of you who read this via email, the report link from yesterday’s post inadvertently linked to last month’s Wholesale Leaders. The correct link is here.

On to the highlights:

  • Florida continues to weaken further.  YTD volume is now down just under 29%, the weakest by far of the top 10 volume states.  On the opposite end of the spectrum comes New York, up 42%, and Illinois (up 34%) YTD.
  • Despite volume being down overall in California (-3.4%), we are continuing to see strength in the coastal counties.  Orange (+133%), Los Angeles (+19%), and San Diego (+3%) are all up for the year.  We didn’t run the numbers yet but for the gamblers out there we’d put the over/under line on California dollar volume growth for the year at +10%.  Any takers out there?
  • Most impressive city for the year is Brooklyn, NY.  Okay, we know it’s technically a burough and not a city, but the numbers don’t lie.  Volume is up 149% to 405 units…  Weakest of the top 10 cities: Miami, Baltimore, Houston, Philadelphia and Hialeah, FL are all down over 20%.
  • Before you get too worried about that Houston drop above, remember that Texas overall is doing quite well this year, up 12.5% YTD.  Just so happens that the growth is coming very strong away from the traditional hot spots and more than making up for some weakness in Houston.  Certainly helps that Dallas is up 33.5%.  If you want to know which other counties in Texas you should be targeting, check out our Market Opportunity Report for more details…
  • Active lenders in the industry came  in at 987 for the month of June, a 15% drop from June 08. We wouldn’t be surprised to see a bit more contraction in the total lenders endorsing loans as we go forward…

Industry Trends - June 2009