According to economists, The Great Recession started in 2007 and ended in 2009, though well over two years later people around the world are still suffering from the aftermath. Curiously, retail receipts for the most recent holiday shopping season seem to be the most robust in all of three years, even as the housing market keeps tumbling in value. Economists find these two indicators, home prices and retail receipts, to be really useful indicators of the true state of the economy, so taken together these facts point to continuing uncertainty.
Though profits are at record highs, large companies are not taking on any more workers. Interest rates are incredibly low but credit lines remain tight. Of course, who gives out hundreds of dollars right now – or, even, take it on – with all the uncertainty? It’s quite a conundrum, since nobody wants to take those crucial first steps that somebody will have to eventually – a great many somebodys, actually.
Only twenty-one thousand homes were sold nationwide this past November, a record low for just one month. Savvy shoppers, however, can take advantage of these conditions, which have lead to low prices throughout the entire real estate market, even for properties in New York City.
This is something that even folks such as Isaac Toussie have not seen before, where price declines seem to discourage sales!
The situation is much, much worse in cities such as Cleveland, Minneapolis, and even Dallas, darlings of the 1990s.
Whatever the case wherever it may be, an improvement will depend on one thing: jobs. Yet with no strong sustained positives in real estate – which account for new purchases of durable goods – what chance will there be for the outlook on jobs?
Something’s gotta give.
