UBICACIÓN Y PREPARACIÓN DE LAS CÁMARAS.

By Miranda Zhang June 12, 2013 4:17 pm

Missouri sees smaller rebound than U.S.  

Sales of existing U.S. homes rose 9 percent in April, from 4.02 million units last year to 4.38 million this year. That was the fastest pace since November 2009, according to a National Association of Realtors (NAR) news release. The median existing single-family home price stood at $193,300 in April, 11percent higher than a year ago.

Walter Molony, economic issues media manager at the National Association of Realtors, said he has observed a strong positive trend since the beginning of 2012. Molony said the housing market has been recovering solidly, which means the increase was based on household formation, job creation and "favorable housing affordability conditions with historically low mortgage interest rates."

Missouri's housing market bounced back moderately compared to the na tional market. The all-

transactions house price index (HPI), which measures the average change of single-family house prices in repeat sales or refinancings, appreciated in the first quarter in six of Missouri's eight metro areas. Meanwhile, the state's all-transactions HPI dropped 0.37 percen t,according to an analysisof the Federal Housing Finance Agency'sdatabases.

Prity Vanmali, a realtor at Century 21Advantage, specializes in housing marketsof Jefferson City, Columbia and Ashland. She a.xplained the slower pace of recovery in Missouri is consistent with the state's smaller downturn.

"Although Missouri's housing market was affected by the nationwide economic downturn, we were fortunate not to have experienced the extreme highs and lows that other states have had to

endure," Vanmali said.  

The year-over-year growth of the median existing single-family home prices in the St. Louis, Kansas

City, Springfield and Columbia metro areas also lagged behind the national increase in the first quarter, according to an analysis of the NAR's data sets.

Donna Zerega, President of the St. Louis Association of Realtors, said the percentage growth those areas saw was not as dramatic because they "did not take as deep a dive as some areas of the country.•

"When home values fall 60 percent, any dollar increase is reflected as a large percentage increase," Zerega said.

Columbia, Jefferson City stay steady

Columbia's existing single-family home price surpassed St. Louis' median price in 2007 and has

stayed flat since then.

"Not only is Columbia conveniently located between the metropolitan areas of St. Louis and Kansas

City,• Vanmali said,"but it also offers a culture of higher education, which keeps the demand for

Workers in science, computer, engineering and math with sub-bachelor's degrees in Kansas City

and St. Louis out-earned U.S. and Missouriworkers on average in 2011, according to a new study.

Five out of the eight metro areas in Missouri exceeded the national level in their share of STEM j obs

requiring associate degrees or less education, according to an analysis based on the Brookings

Institution's databases . Statewide statistics showed Missouri surpassed the national average

in percentage of STEM workers with two-year degrees or less education. The Brookings' report did

not explain why Missouri differs from the national average, but state experts said some factors

include the engineering, health care and manufacturing employment that doesn't require higher

than associate degrees.

Kansas City attracts engineering and IT talent

The average salary of STEM workers in the Kansas City metro area almost hit $67,300, the highest

among all metro areas in Missouri in 2011. Workers with bachelor's degrees or higher earned

$80,680, while workers with less than bachelor's degrees made $52,680 on average, according to the

Brookings Institution's database.

The number of STEM jobs in the Kansas City region is expected to grow ? percent, from 53,477 in

2012 to 57,088 in 2017, according to the Regional Workforce Intelligence Network of Greater

Kansas City. Computer specialists accounted for 63 percent of Kansas City's STEM occupations

whereas engineers made up 23 percent in 2012.

Kansas City is home to a large number of engineering, construction and design companies that

employ a broad diversity of STEM workers with both bachelor's and associate degrees as well as

technical certification, KC STEM Alliance program director Laura Loyaconosaid.And the area

appeals to internationally reputable engineering and IT firms with its good location, skilled

workforce and strong community partnerships, she added.

"A lot of organizations here,including the KC STEM Alliance, are pulling in the same direction,"

Loyacono said. "We work to increase awareness of the importance of STEM jobs among edu cators,

students and parents."

Columbia expects increase

STEM employment

Columbia had the highest percentage of science jobs among all metro areas but stayed on the lower

end in other STEM fields.

The number of computer jobs in Columbia were expected to grow partly because IBM established a data center in the area in 2010, said Mike Brooks, the president of Columbia's Regional Economic Development Inc., or RED!.

Columbia has a relatively large proportion of health care workers and many of them have associate degrees, Jo Fey, Dean of Career and Technical Educa tion at Moberly Area Community College,