Helpful for small banks, but not enlightening for larger chains (which may be incorporated in another states or offshore). Also, it doesn't show "distressed sales" like WaMu and Wachovia that I would categorize as a failure.

Just because banks won't declare foreclosure on houses with more guns than rooms doesn't mean Wyoming is the place to live...

Depends on your situation.

I'm gainfully employed in IT, my fiance is gainfully employed in a government social services job. Neither of us are worried about downsizing as these jobs run on a nearly skeleton crew as it is, my IT job is in a hospital, so we're looking at some Obama money, etc., etc.

The moral of the story, I like Ohio's forclosure rate. I just needed 1600 square feet, four bedrooms, two baths, all for under 100,000.

@Darrone:

Every house should have at least as many guns as rooms. What happens when you suddenly need to defend yourself while getting a jar of peanut butter from the pantry?

@WiglyWorm: needed=netted.

I'm not trying to brag. I'm just saying there are absolute bargains out there, and if you're fortunate enough to be in a similar situation as I am, I really recommend you go out hunting.

The problem florida is going to come across in about 6-8 months is a hurricane is gonna come plowing through here and suddenly all the forclosure "values" are going to be piles of rubble.

@wgrune: Proper defense against peanut butter is a large does of antibiotics, not lead.

@WiglyWorm: It is not bragging when you did what most of the us should have done, save.

@Oranges w/ Cheese: If the insurance is right, they may very well mysteriously become hurricane rubble even in areas where the hurricane didn't hit.

Wait, according to this there hasn't been a single bank failure in New York? Maybe I don't quite understand the state of the financial market and how it relates to Wall Street.

@karmaghost: Maybe they make a distinction between the bank on your street corner and "investment banks"?

Besides, aren't most of those based in the Caymen Islands or somewhere similar?

@WiglyWorm: definitely, not bragging. just smart. Broke people shouldn't buy homes. I am also excited about the drop in home prices. My husband and I are in the same type of position and we will soon be ready to grab a smokin deal on our first home.

Wyoming =

1. GOBS of natural resources (oil, gas, coal, land). Remember 1/3 of all of our coal E comes from the Powder River Basin.
2. New mecca for unemployed, mechanically skilled labor (esp. from MI) seeking employment in the energy industry/maintenance

You can't get your hands on ANY housing in WY right now d/t the energy surge.

That market will be ok for a while.

@floraposte: As by insurance, you mean the federal govt.

@AstraBabble:@lars2112: Ok, I'm glad you guys see it like that. I was a little worried that with the economy the way it is, people might think I was gloating "haha, you're worried about a pink slip I just bought the house the bank took from you!" or something like that, which couldn't be further from what I was trying to do.

I'd be curious to see this broken down more regionally as well. For example, Illinois is sort-of "Chicago metro" and "everywhere else" and they've been hit very differently by the economic crisis. (And "everywhere else" varies within itself as well.) I know I've seen foreclosure maps by county, but I'd also be curious about bank service availability by county, say, or economic activity slowdown by county.

That's an interesting screen capture of the map. However, I find the "none" for bank failures in Arizona too be a tad misleadiing. There was a bank failure in Nevada, which affected it's 15 branches in Arizona. Technically, those branches had been merged into the Nevada based parent, but it's disingenuous to say there were no bank failures in AZ:
Federal regulators close First National Bank of Arizona

@WiglyWorm: now that last msg was going a bit over the top really :P
Too bad i cant buy a house yet. no point in buying one if you aint married.

My father-in-law just bought a house in Western Florida near Ft. Myers - AKA hurricane alley- for $96000, 4 bedrooms, in ground pool etc. that was a repo. His house is Northern Conn. is still on the market and will likely be there for a long time b/c the market is so depressed. No fun in paying 2 mortgages.

@ARP: I agree it's misleading with larger chains only having headquarters in one state but doing business in many, or even misrepresenting which regions caused the banks to fail. However it is including Washington Mutual (in its Nevada statistic, where its charter was located). The failed map list seems to be using the same information as listed on the FDIC's website: http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/banklist.html

@WiglyWorm:
I like my peanut butter feisty

Yay. As a lifelong Californian who (especially now) doesn't miss it in the least, yet more confirmation that Wyoming is a great place to live. Now to find just the right town in The Equality State (Cheyenne is nice, but too big for my taste at 55,000 people).

@Eyebrows McGee: When in doubt, open a winery! They could do one of those infection maps for Southern Illinois.

@wgrune:

Yes, the pantry is the #1 hiding place for burglars and rapists. I've read that on the internet somewhere.

@WiglyWorm:

Ah, Ohio. :)

I just netted a similar house for the bargain-basement price of $500,000 on Long Island. (To put that in perspective it was listed at an appropriate $650k just after home prices started collapsing). My wife and I both have steady jobs and got an affordable 30yr fixed.

But I'm still knocking on wood, because things can always get worse..

I can't wait until I get my American Banker email tonight listing the FDIC closed banks.... Sadly I now expect that email every friday. Why can't the FDIC change it up and take over a bank on a thursday or monday, keep me guessing.

@Quake 'n' Shake: I loved that bank, as they hired me for a lot of projects. The owner was not from AZ (he lived in the midwest) plus they were tied to a Nevada bank so it might be captured there. But good observation.

The bank closure chart is poorly done - should really be indexed by population (or banks, or something).

@lars2112: Do your homework. Florida had all (or most) of the private insurers flee from the state, so they instituted a state-run hurricane insurance pool that, while payments are high (because of the risk), still does a half-way decent job. I was reading about how the last major hurricane that went through and caused tons of damage wiped out that fund, but it's being built up again now during time that there aren't hurricanes rampaging through the state.

@JustThatGuy3: Yea, and the way you hover over states is terrible. I feel like I lose control of my mouse...

Go Nevada! One of the main branches of a foreclosed bank is right across the street from my apartment. They've made it to something else now so it's at least in service.

Couple that with a current unemployment rate of around 10% in my city (around 20% including underemployment), and it sure makes me feel all cheery and safe.

@Quake 'n' Shake: It is misleading as the map is only showing the states in which the bank's charter was located.

Quoted from your article: "Technically, the transition affects First National Bank of Nevada, into which First National Bank of Arizona was merged four weeks ago..."
So it looks like Quake 'n' Shake is right about the NV thing.

Argh! It's grabbing control of my cursor.

Failure is not bad unless taxpayer funded welfare money is used to prop up these terrible institutions. In Japan, the government bailed out any and everything, thus creating "zombie" businesses. Recessions are suppose to clear out the losers and let the winners pick up the business. But, the government is in the mindset that nothing and nobody is allowed to fail. Thus the agony and pain will not stop. It will just be dragged on until someone with a brain in Washington D.C., takes an economics 101 class and learns bailouts have never worked.

A bit misleading, no? I mean California is always going to be an extreme case, in terms of absolute numbers, because we have so many people and our economy is so large (even though the state budget is in the hole),

I took a drive around my small town today... it is sad to see how many homes and businesses are boarded up, with a tell-tale little white sheet of paper stapled to the door.

It's also sad to see how many million dollar lakefront homes are still being built.

@berribrand: Yeah, this map was a waste of someone's effort and time.

Funny how the states with the least financial problems (Alaska, Wyoming, Idaho, and others) all consistently vote Republican. And the states with the most financial woes (California, New York) are overwhelmingly Democrat. Coincidence?

Does anyone know a similar map for home values? Also on county level would be awesome... I know, I'm a data whore...

er, wait, what?
0 bank failures in NC?
what about Wachovia? iirc, they were told to either sell, or the FDIC would bar them from opening on Monday morning.

@failurate: i want more data... on the Bank side, i want to know WHICH banks failed (i want names, so i can find out more information)
on the Housing side, i want to know what "normal" foreclosure rates are for the individual states, or what foreclosure rates were for Q3 2005

@berribrand: The bank failure rate part is bunk, but the foreclosure part is at least percentages. On the other CNN maps they add how high the state's deficit is, but not the debt per capita. Or the job creation estimate per state, but then contrast with unemployment percentage.

for instance....

[money.cnn.com]

The state of California is due to gain ~396,000 jobs from this stimulus. But, the current unemployment rate is 9.3%. My real question is what percentage of jobs will it save? Or how many people are actually unemployed in the state?

I saw mention in a news item last week, during Obama's first official overseas visit, that of the world's 40 largest economies, only Canada has not had a single bank failure. Not even the threat of one. Their only financial bailout thus far has been a regional one for the oil industry - a paltry $40 billion. Even the automotive industry isn't hurting.

It makes you wonder what they're doing right and whether the US and everyone else should be taking notes. And then you have to remember their medical system as well.

Funny cause I am actually planning to move out of Wyoming soon. But yah, the housing market collapse didn't touch my town at all we are actually in a huge construction boom to accommadate all the energy workers moving in.

@P_Smith: Not to quibble. but we're not overseas. World's longest undefended border between the two nations etc.

That being said, it's just that the banks were way more conservative. I only heard of one bank advertising for a 0 down mortgage and it was quite the anomaly and also relatively late in the game (2007 or thereabouts). They also limited their investments in the US credit market though the reasons for that escape me. I've been trying to find some information on that whether by chance or by design/regulation.

Banks here recently announced quarterly gains/losses, and most are back positive, by a fair amount.