Despite National Gloom, Lansing Real Estate Shows Life.

If you did not get a chance to read the business section of the local paper today, it wasn't great news for the new construction housing industry. The Articles title was "New Home Sales Plunge." It is interesting to see that according to data collected by the Commerce Department, the Midwest saw a decline of 27.6 percent from October to November. I found this interesting since November this year was one of our busiest months. In our community Lakeside, we welcomed three new neighbors that are all in the process of building their homes. I find it interesting that the paper has a quote from Richard Yamarone a national economist that states "This is one sector of the economy that doesn't show any signs of life." It is interesting because the U.S. is still on pace to sell 647,000 new homes this year. It might not be the million homes that we topped a few years ago, and I am not saying that this is a healthy market. I just don't think that it is fair to say that here is no sign of life.
Locally, many of the bankers and Realtors that I have talked to have been very happy with the level of activity going on right now in our market. One builder we work with is putting in five more basements for customers before the end of January. I bring this up, because these are positive spots in our local area that you won't hear about in our main media streams. I know that homes aren't valued as high as they were a few years ago, and if you are a seller that sales are not as strong as they were. Even so, there is life in the real estate market and homes are still selling. The market will come back, and we will see real estate values rise in the future. What this region needs to focus on is job growth and stability. More jobs in the region mean a greater demand for housing helping marketing times and values.