What recent indications show of the crude oil market may bolster US consumer confidence, but that’s as far as the buck
goes. As beneficial as low oil prices
may appear on the surface, there are plenty of negative marks on the economy when it comes to lower prices at the pump.
<p>
    <br /> True lower prices encourage the American consumer to drive and consequently spend more. But the gravity of
    the economics to the cost of gasoline is
    much greater than that. In the end, the difference between the cost of a gallon of gas now and even at its peak is
    nominal. The average middle class
    worker will spend about $20 less every week on gas; a little more than what they will spend on coffee in the same
    period of time. But the struggling
    oil market costs the American economy much more than $3/day.
    <br />
</p>
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<p> With our economy still in recovery mode from the years’ long housing bubble in 2007 still rippling nationwide, a
    strong oil market is needed to float recovery
    in construction. As a matter of fact, the implosion just began subsiding thanks in part to the oil boom in 2010.
    Obviously construction of oil wells
    correlates directly with oil production, but so too do residential and commercial development. </p>
<p>
    <br /> For starters, the hundreds of thousands of people employed across Texas oil fields are at risk of losing
    their jobs with every cent you witness gas
    prices drop on the price board. This impact you much more than you probably realize. That’s because many of these
    workers bought houses across the
    Oil Belt, stretching from Texas to the Dakotas, with the intention of establishing a home. When they are laid off,
    many will be forced to move to lands
    of opportunity.
    <br />
</p>
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<p>If there is a mass exodus (there are already signs of small migrations from the Oil Belt) we could be left with the
    same housing glut which dragged down
    the economy back in 2007. Investors are hopeful the Midwest won’t be the next Florida or Arizona. But with a
    projected downturn in oil-producing opportunities
    across America’s heartland, real estate professionals and developers around the country are bracing for impact. </p>
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