North Dakota Faces Real Estate Crisis

Back in 2006, when hydraulic fracturing became economically feasible, developers and civic leaders in North Dakota envisioned a booming real estate industry that would become long-lasting, if not permanent.

But oil prices have dropped, and as Bloomberg Business reports, more than 4,000 workers lost their jobs in the first quarter alone. There aren’t enough people left to buy the homes that were built during the oil boom.

Several counties are in millions of dollars of debt after borrowing to improve infrastructure such as water and sewer systems.

Bloomberg Business reporter Jennifer Oldham paints the perfect picture: “Hundreds of dwellings approved during the heady days are rising, skeletons of wood and cement surrounded by rolling grasslands, with too few residents who can afford them.”

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