Posts
QUOTE OF
THE WEEK... "Vision is the art of
seeing the invisible." --Jonathan Swift, Anglo-Irish satirist,
essayist, poet, and cleric
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... What's often not visible in housing reports are the positive details behind the negative headline numbers. New Home Sales for January were down 0.2% from December, but that's a mere 1,000 units. Sales were still at a 481,000 annual rate, up a solid 4.6% versus a year ago. And sales would have come in up for the month if not for a 51.6% drop in the Northeast, the result of the region's epic blizzard conditions. Supply also improved, as new homes inventory grew 1.4%, to 218,000, its highest level in five years. Existing Home Sales were down 4.9% in January, but are up 3.2% from a year ago, their fourth month in a row of annual gains.
Easily visible was the 1.7% gain in Pending Homes Sales, January over December. This National Association of Realtors (NAR) index of contracts signed on existing homes is now up 8.4% year-over-year, its fifth month in a row of annual gains. The NAR's chief economist cited "positive factors...such as slightly improving credit conditions, more jobs, and slower price growth." Meanwhile, the property economist for a leading economic research consultancy sees nothing but positive signs: "job creation is on fire and an acceleration in wage growth should soon follow, consumer confidence is elevated and mortgage credit conditions are loosening."
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Don't give up on the stuff you don't like: cold calling, following up leads, contacting old clients, negotiating with tough people, cleaning up the database. Ultimately, these activities can really pay off.
INFO THAT HITS US WHERE WE LIVE... What's often not visible in housing reports are the positive details behind the negative headline numbers. New Home Sales for January were down 0.2% from December, but that's a mere 1,000 units. Sales were still at a 481,000 annual rate, up a solid 4.6% versus a year ago. And sales would have come in up for the month if not for a 51.6% drop in the Northeast, the result of the region's epic blizzard conditions. Supply also improved, as new homes inventory grew 1.4%, to 218,000, its highest level in five years. Existing Home Sales were down 4.9% in January, but are up 3.2% from a year ago, their fourth month in a row of annual gains.
Easily visible was the 1.7% gain in Pending Homes Sales, January over December. This National Association of Realtors (NAR) index of contracts signed on existing homes is now up 8.4% year-over-year, its fifth month in a row of annual gains. The NAR's chief economist cited "positive factors...such as slightly improving credit conditions, more jobs, and slower price growth." Meanwhile, the property economist for a leading economic research consultancy sees nothing but positive signs: "job creation is on fire and an acceleration in wage growth should soon follow, consumer confidence is elevated and mortgage credit conditions are loosening."
BUSINESS TIP OF THE WEEK... Don't give up on the stuff you don't like: cold calling, following up leads, contacting old clients, negotiating with tough people, cleaning up the database. Ultimately, these activities can really pay off.
No comments:
Post a Comment