HOME SALES DOWN IN NEW LONDON COUNTY

Housing prices in New London County were down 6.5% in February. Why should this effect, the Mohegan Tribe? The reason is that both the Mohegan Sun Casino and Foxwoods Resort Casino and the MGM Grand at Foxwoods are in New London County, Connecticut.

Here are the comparisons, for you to ponder over. Single Home sales for February, 2008 was 116 units compared to this year, February, 2009 with 78 units. Down 38 units.

Let's compare the prices of homes from this February compared to February 2008. The median single family house in February, 2008 sold for $224,500.00 compared to $210,000.00 this year. A drop of $14,500.00.

Now look at Connecticut as a whole. The total single family houses sold state wide for February, 2008 was 1,387. This year statewide for February it was 1,025. A drop of 362 houses.

Statewide single family median house prices for February, 2008 was $263,000.00. For February, 2009 the median price for a single family house statewide was $218,000.00. A whopping drop of $45,000.00.

So what doe this have to do with us (Mohegan Tribal Members)? People are not making it in Connecticut anymore. People are leaving. The housing market is in shambles. If people are selling homes at less than what they could have got a year ago, things must be really bad.

Could it also be, that the economy, was a false economy with a great many loans given to people who really could not afford the houses they got? Does this have to happen for the economy to balance itself out? Is the U>S. government going to be able to fix this?

Where are people going to get the money to gamble? Where are these people going? How many people are trying to ride this storm (the economy) out? The fact that Norwich and Montville school systems are recording drops in attendance, shows that people have stopped coming here for employment. They are going some place else.

Is the future gloomy for the casinos? Are economists right when they say it will take four or five (4 to 5) years for the economy to recover? What is the casino dong about these problems? What do you think?