Housing crisis cuts into city coffers

U.S. CONFERENCE OF MAYORS' REPORT SOUNDS ALARM

WASHINGTON --
The deepening housing crisis will cut economic growth by more than 25 percent in 143 U.S. metropolitan areas next year and by more than a third in 65 of those, according to a new forecast for the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
The report, to be released today and prepared by financial forecaster Global Insight, warns of cascading problems caused by falling home prices, an expected 1.4 million foreclosures and the pending reset of millions of adjustable-rate mortgages.
The cities with the biggest-percentage projected losses to their gross metropolitan products are Myrtle Beach, S.C., the California cities of Merced, Madera and Napa, and Sarasota-Bradenton, Fla.

Jonah’s Thoughts:
Don’t look for our property taxes to be lowered even though property value is sliding because of lower sales prices.

By Kevin G. Hall, MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS