Good News! Good News! Good News! The St. Louis Cardinals are still in first place. Well so are the Cubs for that matter. But, opening day is just around the corner and our beloved redbirds are sure to have a banner year.Wow, a little good weather does great wonders for our spirits.
We just cannot help but believe that winter is over. The grass is greening up, the trees are budding, the flowers are beginning to bloom. The signs are all there. To be sure, there are still a few cold days ahead, but there is just no disputing that spring is pushing winter aside.
We also are seeing early signs that the housing slump is losing steam as well. Just this week the Wall Street Journal reported that “Home prices are closer to stabilizing today than at any time in the past nine years.” The data points to a housing affordability index that is at the exact ratio that we last saw in the hay days of the 1980’s. Of course the hot news on the national press in the last few days celebrated the 22% uptick in national housing starts from January 2009 to February 2009. This ended 18 consecutive months of decline. Encouraging news on the national scene!
Locally we can expect our market to rebound even sooner than most. Zanola Research Group suggests that we need to build 666 homes this year in Greene county alone just to keep pace with demand. The report went on to point out that southwest Missouri is continuing on a long pattern of job growth. We see all the reports of job losses but research shows that new jobs outpace job losses in our area. Add growing wages and a steady climb in population and we are three for three in those areas that matter most for a housing rebound.
Three for Three, that reminds me of baseball. Yes, opening day is almost here. Looks like busy days ahead. God bless!
Keeping the Faith
HBA President