Below is an excerpt from the most recent edition of WisBusiness Tuesday Trends.
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The full product includes several items in each of the rising, mixed and falling categories plus a look at upcoming business events across the state.
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RISING
Farm property: A new report from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago shows the price of farmland in Wisconsin increased 11 percent in 2012, part of a dramatic increase across the five-state region tracked by the bank. Across the entire region, prices increased 16 percent, one of the largest in more than 30 years and, coupled with a larger increase in 2011, fuel for historically high sale prices — as much as $10,000 per acre for some Wisconsin property. Wisconsin’s 2012 increase was lower than neighboring Iowa and Illinois, which observers attributed to the Badger State’s use of corn and soybeans to feed livestock rather than to sell on the market, where prices are historically high due to recent drought conditions and the impact of ethanol in fuel.
MIXED
Airports: A slew of small Wisconsin airports avoid shutting down their air traffic control towers — for now. The Federal Aviation Administration announces it will delay the closure of 149 towers nationally — including eight in Wisconsin — until June 15. The towers were originally scheduled to close beginning over the weekend as part of a plan to address federal sequestration cuts. Officials say the additional two months will allow the FAA to attempt to resolve multiple legal challenges to the closure decisions. The affected Wisconsin airports under the Contract Tower Program include Eau Claire, Janesville, Kenosha, La Crosse, Mosinee, Oshkosh, Waukesha and Timmerman Field in Milwaukee.
FALLING
Foreclosures: A series of reviews of the latest foreclosure data shows the housing crisis may finally be abating in Wisconsin. Court filings show the number of foreclosure actions filed in seven southeastern Wisconsin counties fell by 33 percent in March over the same month in 2012, while the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors says the number of homes sold via foreclosure dropped more than 10 percent in the most recent quarter over the first quarter of 2012. And a UW-Whitewater professor says a filing slowdown also occurred in nearly every other county in the state.
