4-21-2010

Well gang it looks as if the bottom has been reached in housing transactions. Whether it is because people need to house families or whether foreclosures and short sales have reached their stride or whether sellers have adjusted to their market price reality I don’t know. But based on the number of home sale closings for resale properties and new construction properties it would appear that the numbers are moving up and with a bit of conviction. The test of that conviction will be this summer when all tax program incentives have expired and the market is operating in a “normal” environment.


Mortgage originations are still low, suggesting that the rebound in home prices, especially after the incentive disappear, will be slow just as job growth will be. This sub-par condition will be with us for quite awhile. If your business is struggling you need to re-examine your business plan and strategy. This economic malaise will be with us for the foreseeable future and you will need to embrace it. You don’t have to like it but you do have to acknowledge it if you are to be successful. If yopu need help with this there are a number of firms in the Cape Fear Region that can help. Check the Wilmington Chamber and the North Brunswick Chamber membership lists for people to contact.

On the energy front, gasoline is destined to hit $3.00 per gallon shortly. Likely well before the driving season peak in July. I’m not prepared to guess where the top will be but I do expect that it will back off again in the fall.

All in all things are beginning to stabilize but won’t be good for a very long time unless Congress makes the necessary cuts in spending to allow us to reduce the debt over the next decade. It will be up to the voters to see that it happens.