Federal wheels just keep on turnin' moving us through what has been called the Great Recession.
The housing sector's performance in 2010 is the big buzz and many are optimistic that at least in the first half of the year, it will fare better than other parts of the economy. Others predict the real estate sector will see a steady increase throughout the year. Some areas may even see price increases.
Around SE PA, Philadelphia, and northern DE, things are chugging at a brisk pace. It's not the 62 percent increase I've heard about in the Phoenix area, but neither did our market plummet 40% as did the Southwest, California or Florida.
The buyers are out! With their umbrellas. Meaning, jobs continue to be the big "if."
Many customers and clients I've talked to this week have lost a job. A chat with a loan officer echoed that our region is at the tail end of the downsizing. Once it all settles down, the expectation is that new jobs will be created, and that remains to be seen. Just doesn't feel good when you are going through it.
Interest rates are the other element in this perfect storm. For some time, the hew and war cry has been "beware of rate increases, beware!" Rates may - eventually - do just that - increase.
Yet last week they inched downward with 30 years fixed rates at 5.1 percent and 15 year fixed rates at about 4.6 percent on average. No matter what happens, the flack can be hail-like - communications designed to get consumers to act in one way or another.
Reminds me of the Morton's Salt ad. They girl with the umbrella is always in the rain and she's always carrying an umbrella - makes sense.
There will always be rain, the key is to keep your hairstyle current and ALWAYS carry an umbrella.
As Gary Keller, a great leader in the field of real estate once said:
There's never a wrong time to buy the right property at the right price." :)
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