Cheer Up - The US Economy is Stronger than You May Think

Cheer up, prospective home buyers. While the 24/7 cable news networks focuses on all the negatives, the U.S. economy is actually beginning to improve faster than some with an agenda would have you think prior to the upcoming mid-term elections.

Although the U.S. economy is still soft and consumer confidence remains stagnant and lower than one would hope, new data from the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Fortune 500 business CEOs indicate that there really are some positive signs for the future of the American economy, in general, and form home sellers and buyers in particular.

Some of the biggest names in business have said recently that they see a bright future for the U.S. economy, with famed investor Warren Buffett declaring the country and world will not fall back into the grips of the recession. "I am a huge bull on this country. We are not going to have a double-dip recession at all," said Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. "I see our businesses coming back across the board."

Others agree. Steve Ballmer of Microsoft says, "I am very enthusiastic about what the future holds for our industry and what our industry will mean for growth in other industries."

Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric CEO says business at GE, one of the world's largest companies, is improving. "General Electric," he said, "is now finding it more profitable to build manufacturing and service centers in the United States rather than overseas, because it is more competitive. That movement will start bringing jobs back to America. The past idea that we could run a country on "nothing more than services was just stupid" to use his words. There is beginning to be a sense that we really do have to go back to "making things in this country and exporting them"

U.S.-based CEOs have begun to notice that shipping costs, inefficiencies, and the longer lead times associated with building products overseas are eating up the higher profitability that was forecast a few years ago. U.S. corporations are beginning to favor manufacturing here creating American jobs. An example may be the start-up of new lithium-ion battery manufacturing plants in Michigan focused on taking America's participation in the worldwide battery production used for hybrid and electric vehicles from its current 2% to 40% over the next 5 years.

Some of the key economic facts published by NAR, BER and other economic analysis sources include the following:

•The U.S. economy is growing, though slowly. The private sector is finally creating jobs, 700,000 so far this year.
•While consumer confidence remains low, it is clearly up from its lowest point.
•30-year mortgage rates are at their lowest point in decades. 30-year mortgages are available at close to 4%.
•Personal income increased in July, 2010 by $30.0 billion, or 0.2%. Disposable personal income increased by $17.6 billion, or 0.2% according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.
•Although bad mortgage loans during overly-loose lending practice periods are still causing foreclosures and short sales, recent home price-to-income ratios indicate that people are now buying homes they can actually afford to own.
•Consumers in all income brackets are paying down their credit card balances and starting to save more.
•Median home prices across the U.S. are stabilizing and economists expect modest home price increases in the 2011-2014 period.
•Real estate speculators have been driven out of the market removing a huge source of instability.

So why do we,as individuals, still express so little confidence in the economic recovery? To a large extent, the 7/24 hour cable TV news networks and Internet bloggers focus far too much attention on the latest outrageous or pessimistic statement or action by someone with an agenda, rather than someone with positive news or opinions. They have painted an economic picture that is much less positive than current underlying economic indicators and the CEOs of major U.S. corporations suggest is the case.

What does all this mean for you as a potential buyer of a Sarasota Florida home on condo ? It means that the U.S. economy is finding its footing and slowly but surely beginning to rebound - not as quickly as anyone would wish, but in fact, at a faster pace than occurred in either of the past two recessions.

"So if you have been delaying a decision on when to buy that Sarasota Florida waterfront home or condo," Dick Plumb, a well-known Sarasota FL real estate expert, says "it's time to come to town, work with a professional and knowledgable Realtor, and buy that dreamhome you've been wanting before home prices here start climbing again."