Online real estate marketplace Trulia just posted the final 2012 election edition of the Housing Misery index, combining price declines, delinquency, and foreclosure rates.
Nevada and Florida are the highest misery states in the country, an index directly linked to the health local housing markets. Both states are vital swing states for this upcoming and fast-approaching election. California, Arizona, and Michigan also rank very high on the misery index and experience large home price increases in the past year.
Housing matters quite a bit to voters in these particular states. Romney is polling better than Obama in much of the South and in the center of the country where there is little housing misery.
Click the map below for a larger view on the nation’s housing misery.
The housing market in red states is much better than in blue states on almost every level. Since blue states need much more housing help than red states, due to the red states having a higher home ownership, better affordability, larger price increases, and less misery. Obama might focus more on housing than Romney. Obama set out his second term housing plan in which he said “There are a lot of Americans still underwater because housing values dropped so precipitously and they’re having trouble refinancing,” Obama told Tapper at a recent press conference.
Romney however has a different plan. Romney said at a recent appearance, “The banks aren’t bad people. They’re just overwhelmed right now.”
The next president will reward those who voted for him, meaning that whomever wins the election will focus more on the issues that are the most pressing in the states that elected him, and put the other issues lower on the list. As far as the housing market goes, President Obama would put the housing crisis at a higher priority than Romney would.
bkluger@housingwire.com
