Alaska's Housing Market on the Rise

Alaska's home construction patterns are following the nation and are currently headed back up.

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by Megan Mazurek

Story Created: Dec 28, 2011 at 8:46 PM AKDT

Story Updated: Dec 28, 2011 at 8:46 PM AKDT

Alaska's home construction patterns are following the nation and are currently headed back up.
According to the Alaska Department of Labor, between 2001 to 2005 about 3000 single-family homes were built each year. After reaching a peak in 2005, numbers declined and dropped until 2009 to about 1500 homes.
Similar to the nation, the state's construction of new homes dropped about 60 percent from 2005 to 2009, while the national number of new homes saw a more severe decline of 74percent.
State economists attribute the boom from 2000 to 2005 to the Matanuska Susitna Valley which grew about 4 times faster than Anchorage.
Alaska economists say the state and parts of the U.S. have a great housing market for buyers.
"The economy is still growing, interest rates are at near record lows," said Neal Fried, a state economist. "You know, another sort of silver lining in all of this is that affordability for housing is at a very low level right now."
Officials say the growth in Matsu Valley was due to inexpensive housing sold to Anchorage workers who desired a higher standard of living for a more affordable price.

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