West Virginia Real Estate Market Outlook

West Virginia’s real estate slowdown is a result of several factors in the economy. But many are surprised that the reason doesn’t involve subprime mortgages. During the real estate boom, the Mountain State has never had a massive construction spree. The local market didn’t have to scale back thoroughly unlike other cities.

What holds up the property market are the jobless cases in the metropolitan areas. Last year, workers in steel company Wheeling-Nisshin got the boot. Several manufacturing and construction firms also cut their workforce to minimize their losses. As unemployment goes up, so do the risks of missing mortgage payments by homeowners.

The Fairmont property market will experience some slowdown in home sales in 2009 but it won’t be enough to suppress a forecasted 1.5 percent rise in home values. Likewise, Morgantown’s credit markets will be an obstacle to more loans in the market but a 2 percent increase in home prices is a guaranteed rate.

Huntington’s Central City and its major central business district keep the local economy afloat during the recession. Huntington’s sluggish sales will hold back the property market’s rebound and continue to depress prices by 7 percent in 2009.

In Charleston, the diverse mix of education, government, utilities and healthcare industry fuel the local economy. But the recession has paralyzed the city’s commerce and other industries were soon dropping out of the scene. Charleston’s home prices sagged only by a single digit, enough to insulate the city from drastic depreciation. RealtyOutlook.com predicts home values to fall by 3 percent.

Two cities in the state won’t be experiencing sinking home prices this year. Fairmont, in the north-central region, has had significant home value appreciation in the past year. The home of the world-famous rapid transit system, Morgantown also has better prospects for the year.

In Potomac Highlands, the real estate market is saturated by retirees during the boom. Today, this trend still exists but sales are starting to take a backseat and home values tumbling to dismal figures. One more setback is the few buyers who provide insufficient demand to foreclosure sales. RealtyOutlook.com sees a 7.5 percent loss in home prices this year.