Even though many U.S. cities are struggling due to the current economic problems, Grand Junction is still ranked among the top five best performing cities of its size. According to an article that I have just read in the Grand Junction Free Press entitled, “Grand Junction continues to weather economic storm, reports say” Grand Junction is in a better position than many cities of similar size to face the coming economic problems.
The Milken Institute Report, which measures job growth, wages and high-tech production growth, was one of the factors taken into consideration for this ranking. The other was a HousingPredictor.com report, which tracks increases and decreases of real estate values. HousingPredictor.com has listed Grand Junction as the only city in Colorado with increasing property values (up 4% in 2008). HousingPredictor.com is predicting that home values will fall in Denver (-9.4%), Aurora (-9.1%), Colorado Springs (-7.9%), Boulder (-7.2$) and Fort Collins (-5.3%).
According to the executive director of the Grand Junction Economic Partnership, Ann Driggers, one of the main reasons Grand Junction fared so well in this ranking was because of job and wage growth. While many are predicting that the local economy will be affected by the national and global financial crisis, According to Driggers, Grand Junction’s growing energy industry should help us do better than many other areas.
In all this will create a more affordable housing market in Grand Junction, hopefully, that will motivate investors and those who have been waiting for home prices to lower before buying to eye the existing inventory of homes in the Mesa County area more positively.
Please click to read this article in its entirety at www.gjfreepress.com.
