Regardless of the area of North Dakota from Bismarck to Minot, from Fargo to Dickinson, Grand Forks or anywhere in between, North Dakota has seen a dramatic increase in the number of foreclosure homes in the state. This increase in defaulting mortgages has been caused in large part by the mortgage meltdown and lesser so with the global financial collapse that followed it.
North Dakota like all other states has felt the brunt of the foreclosure crisis. North Dakota is however, less effected than most states in this statistic due to its relatively stable economy based on its two main industries. Fossil fuels and agriculture make up the majority of the economy in North Dakota.
The gross state product is $24billion annually which is less than the annual revenue of many American companies and is the second lowest in the nation. This low but consistent gross state output is one reason that North Dakota has seen a lower than average number of foreclosures, ranking foreclosures in North Dakota as the 5th lowest in the country.
The North Dakota economy which was originally based on the fur trade and agriculture has transitioned from random fur trading posts turned towns surrounded by farms to its current economic structure which is focused on coal and oil production as well as maintaining the states standing as a leader in production of barley, sunflowers and several types of wheat.
Real estate and foreclosures are therefore prominent in areas near high density areas and far less so in the mostly rural counties in the state. This also means that an investor who desires to buy and sell or buy and rent a foreclosure home is in a far better position to reap a financial gain if the investment is made in an area of the state that has a good possibility of available jobs. Qualifying for mortgages has become more difficult since the mortgage meltdown and employment is an absolute necessity.
The industries that currently sustain the state's economy are historically slow growth but offer a degree of sustainability that high growth industries do not provide. Low revenue producing industries such as agriculture do not generally lead to an expansive growth of a local economy and therefore North Dakota has little chance of a speedy recovery. The greatest opportunity in recent times for the state of North Dakota is real estate and foreclosure investment as lending institutions and banks work toward balancing their books by selling their foreclosure inventory at extreme discounts.
The areas below show a greater population density and therefore should provide a greater degree of ease when reselling or renting the home to a tenant.
