Category — Economy

The local economy in a neighborhood, small town or community can tell you a lot about how the community is doing. If the local economy is poor, property values may be on the downswing, services may be in decline, unemployment may be up and you may see an increase in crime. When the local economy is good, on the other hand, your community may experience growth, property value appreciation and improved services and amenities. How can you tell whether the economy is good or bad before you buy?  

When you see a news report talking about home prices changing, can you take the report at face value? In most cases, the answer is no. News reports about the state of a local or nationwide real estate market are often skewed. In many cases, reporters base their ‘conclusions’ on skewed data. If you’re going to rely on news reports to tell you about the activity in a real estate market, know what you’re seeing and what the reports actually mean. You can still get good data from these reports if you know how to read between the lines. 

The American Bankers Association (ABA) Economic Advisory Committee (EAC) predicts that by the end of 2010 job growth will increase.

Economists for the ABA predict that the high unemployment rate and the fact that consumers are holding back on their spending will slow the economic recovery process, but at the same time the ABA economists expect the real gross domestic product (GDP) to grow by 3.1% in 2010. At the rate of growth of 3.1%, the GDP will only grow at half the rate the GDP has reached after historic recessionary periods.