This from Market Watch will drive green-loving Libs crazy:
Despite harsh weather, home prices in the U.S. held up in February, with four states setting record highs, according to CoreLogic data released Tuesday.
Home prices in Colorado, Nebraska, North Dakota and Texas hit peaks, and another 18 states were within 10% of their peak prices.
Factors driving home prices include low inventory and strong employment growth. The Dallas area, for example, recently posted the third largest annual gain in jobs among 32 U.S. metropolitan divisions. Over in North Dakota, county populations are booming, and the state had the No. 1 rate of personal income growth last year.
Of note, the four states that posted record high prices in February also all missed the extreme price volatility seen during the housing bubble and its aftermath.
The oil and energy Boom in North Dakota and in Texas are known by now but Colorado is heavy in business too. The state more than doubled it’s crude oil production from 29 million barrels in 2008 to 63 million in 2013. Its natural gas production also saw a rapid growth rate in those five years.
IT GETS BETTER: Nationwide home prices are still 17% below the peak reached before the crash — but again, in those energy booming states, the last peaks are blown past and new highs are reached.
The GOP needs to showcase North Dakota and Texas as the models on how to lift people out of poverty; how to create jobs and how to add asset value to citizens without blowing up budgets or enforcing high minimum wages.