or is it the Fun House? Either way, we Realtors have to manoeuvre dips and turns and blurry images to figure out where the market and overall economy are going. The headlines seem to change every day. Today's news from the Commerce Department states that housing starts fell in October, due to a sharp decline in new residential construction. But it this a bad thing?
If we have too much unsold construction out there, doesn't it make sense to sell that first before anyone takes on new projects? I would think this dip could be positive, by helping us move the existing inventory. Here in Hamden, CT, the inventory continues to drop. We are seeing a healty number of "on deposit" signs as we drive around. As we all know, all real estate is local. National headlines inspire or alarm, but we need to look at our own markets to determine how the housing market is doing. There was lots of positive talk at the NAR convention this past week. Hard to believe it can all turn around in two days.
Now we know why the federal government extended the $8000 first time homebuyers credit. It needs to keep this economy stimulated, or things may slow even further. Each spiral down means fewer jobs, so you get the picture. Repairing this economy is a daunting task. Each step has multiple possible outcomes. The one good thing is that the slow economy is keeping inflation, therefore interest rates down. That's the one positive thing in this story.
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