Economic Indicators Show That Things Are Improving

Is this the Opportunity You've Been Waiting For to Buy a Home ?

Posted September 13, 2010

    Although the U.S. economy is still soft and consumer confidence remains low, new data from several sources including the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the Bureau of Economic Research (BER) and others show positive signs for the future of Americans, in general, and home buyers in particular.

    Some of the biggest names in business have said recently that they see a bright future for the U.S. economy, with famed investor Warren Buffett declaring the country and world will not fall back into the grips of the recession. "I am a huge bull on this country. We are not going to have a double-dip recession at all," said Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. "I see our businesses coming back across the board."

    Others agree with Warren Buffet. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft says, "I am very enthusiastic about what the future holds for our industry and what our industry will mean for growth in other industries."

    Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric CEO says business at GE, one of the world's largest companies, is improving. "General Electric," he said, "is now finding it more profitable to build manufacturing and service centers in the United States rather than overseas, because it is more competitive.

    U.S. corporate executives are noticing that shipping costs, inefficiencies, and the longer lead times associated with building products overseas are eating up the higher profitability they had expected just a few years ago. U.S. corporations are beginning to favor manufacturing here creating American jobs. One example is the start-up of new lithium-ion battery manufacturing in Michigan focused on taking America's participation in the worldwide battery production used for hybrid and electric vehicles from its current 2% to 40% over the next 5 years. Thousands of new American jobs will be created in the process.

    Key facts published by NAR, BER and other economic analysis and forecasting sources include the following:

• The U.S. economy is growing, though slowly. The private sector is finally creating jobs, 700,000 so far this year.
• While consumer confidence remains low, it is clearly up from its lowest point.
• 30-year mortgage rates are at their lowest point in decades. 30-year mortgages are available at close to 4%.
• Personal income increased in July, 2010 by $30.0 billion, or 0.2%. Disposable personal income increased by $17.6 billion, or 0.2% according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
• Although bad mortgage loans created by overly-loose lending practices are still causing foreclosures and short sales, recent home price-to-income ratios indicate that people are now buying homes they can actually afford to own.
• Consumers are paying down their credit card balances and starting to save more.
• Median home prices are stabilizing and economists expect modest home price increases in the 2011-2014 period.
• Real estate speculators have been driven out of the market removing a huge source of instability.

    So why does the American public still express so little confidence in the economic recovery: because to a large extent, the 7 day / 24 hour cable TV networks and Internet bloggers seem to focus on reporting only outlandish statements by people with an agenda and overly pessimistic "commentary" as if it were actually factual "news". They paint an economic picture that is much less positive than current underlying economic indicators and the CEOs of major U.S. corporations suggest is actually the case.

    What does all this mean for you as a potential buyer of a home on condo. particularly here in the Sarasota - Bradenton - Venice Florida real estate market? It means that the U.S. economy is finding its footing and slowly but surely beginning to rebound - not as quickly as anyone would hope but, in fact, at a faster pace than occurred in either of the past two recessions.

    So if you've been thinking about buying a home here in the Sarasota "Sun Coast Paradise," this would be be a great time to come to Sarasota Florida, work with a true professional Buyer's Agent Realtor like Brian Ward, and buy that home you've been wanting before the prices start to climb again.

      For a permanent home, vacation getaway or an investment property, the Sarasota real estate market, with its recent price correction, is hard to beat.  I invite you to request my free Sarasota Real Estate Package or call me directly on my cell phone at 941-228-2321 for more immediate service.