One cannot open a newspaper, listen to the radio or watch TV and not be reminded of the problems beseting the housing industry today, and the effects of the mortgage crisis. I correlate the media's presentation on this subject, much the same as their reporting on the was in Iraq. Doom and gloom are the catch words used in describing both current issues. Only the current gas crisis has taken some heat off those topics. Where media is concerned good news does not travel fast.
However, if one delves into both subjects honestly, there are many positive factors that are seldom part of the media's coverage. I'm not going to opine on the war or the gas crisis, but will offer some comments on the housing market. For the media to state that the nations housing market is down 20% etc. from a year ago, is like stating that the average amount of rainfall in the US this year is 23.5 ". You get the point. Certainly areas such as Las Vegas, Florida, Southern California and parts of the Rust Belt have been hurt, but there are parts of the country that are experiencing modest growth.
Ocean City, Md. is experiencing a correction in the market as a result of the boom years from 2000-2005. If anyone thought the appreciation of property value could be sustained much longer, they were mistaken. We are now seeing prices mirroring those averages of 2003-2004 in many areas. A bell did not ring sounding the end of the bull market in Ocean City, and a bell will not sound when the market bottoms and adjusts itself to a more traditional increase in market value, or single digit appreciation. In a later blog I will comment on the general consensus of our current market.
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