Memphis Rebounds 2010 According to SmartMoney.com

An interesting article caught my eye today on Yahoo Real Estate from Lisa Scherzer with www.SmartMoney.com concerning Memphis real estate. She writes an interesting article on 5-markets she expects to rebound the best in 2010. Memphis (according to her) will be second only to Tacoma, Washington. With her estimated .99% increase in home prices (yes less <1%) in Memphis for 2010 the claim is that our being a major center of transportation business as the reasoning (specifies FedEx). The basis is that the Transportation sector of the economy (Memphis is home to FedEx's World Headquarter & major hub) starts to rebound ahead of other sectors.

As a 13 year former employee of FedEx and a seasoned REALTOR I can not believe that FedEx's increase in business because the economy starts a turn results in an increase in home prices. The first sector of FedEx's hiring will obviously be with the part time hub employees, which I am afraid are not a high source of the home purchasing market. The mechanics, Pilots (who purchase in the area), managers and IT folks that are currently employed already posses their homes and these positions will not (in all likelihood) see an increase in hiring for quite some time after any recovery begins. Believe me there is a large curve to where it makes good business sense to pay for over time before you bring on a permanent employee, especially with the benefits FedEx has to offer.

There will be more forecloses in the area, but we will rebound higher in Memphis Real Estate prices than their expected .99% IMHO, but for different reasons than she expects. Read more about Memphis Home Values Here