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QUOTE OF
THE WEEK... "Winter is not
a season, it's an occupation." --Sinclair Lewis, American writer
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... It certainly has been a job getting through this winter in real estate. The latest evidence of this came with February New Home Sales, down 3.3% for the month, to a 440,000 annual rate. Observers once again felt that weekend snows in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states, and the Midwest motivated the downturn. Other analysts pointed out that February is always slow for home sales no matter what the weather is doing. Plus, contracts for these sales were signed at the start of the year, when buying a home isn't a big post-holiday priority. There were an estimated 189,000 new homes for sale at the end of February, a 5.2-month supply.
Pending Home Sales were also down in February, 0.8%. This National Association of Realtors (NAR) measure of contracts signed on existing homes, indicates those sales should be off slightly a few months out. But the NAR's chief economist was upbeat: "Contract signings for the past three months have been little changed, implying the market appears to be stabilizing. Moreover, buyer traffic information...shows a modest turnaround, and some weather delayed transactions should close in the spring." Finally, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index dipped 0.1% in January, yet remained 13.2% ahead for the year. Adjusting for seasonal factors, prices were actually up 0.7% for the month.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Learn from what others have done, but then carve out your own path, dealing with whatever comes along. If something doesn't work, try something else. Above all, never give up.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... It certainly has been a job getting through this winter in real estate. The latest evidence of this came with February New Home Sales, down 3.3% for the month, to a 440,000 annual rate. Observers once again felt that weekend snows in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic states, and the Midwest motivated the downturn. Other analysts pointed out that February is always slow for home sales no matter what the weather is doing. Plus, contracts for these sales were signed at the start of the year, when buying a home isn't a big post-holiday priority. There were an estimated 189,000 new homes for sale at the end of February, a 5.2-month supply.
Pending Home Sales were also down in February, 0.8%. This National Association of Realtors (NAR) measure of contracts signed on existing homes, indicates those sales should be off slightly a few months out. But the NAR's chief economist was upbeat: "Contract signings for the past three months have been little changed, implying the market appears to be stabilizing. Moreover, buyer traffic information...shows a modest turnaround, and some weather delayed transactions should close in the spring." Finally, the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Composite index dipped 0.1% in January, yet remained 13.2% ahead for the year. Adjusting for seasonal factors, prices were actually up 0.7% for the month.
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Learn from what others have done, but then carve out your own path, dealing with whatever comes along. If something doesn't work, try something else. Above all, never give up.
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