The real estate market is up, no it’s down, wait . . . well, it depends on what day you read the news and which news you’re reading. Two days ago I wrote this in an article:
The Wall Street Journal reported that, “California’s inventory of unsold, previously owned homes shrank to a five-year low in December, in a sign that the state may be coming out of its worst housing slump in decades. The supply of unsold single-family homes dropped to 3.8 months from 5.6 months a year ago and 16.6 months in January 2008 . . . In Northern California’s Santa Clara County, where inventory has dropped to 50 days from 243 a year ago Amanda Garcia said she and her father Luis Garcia finally gave up a nine-month search for a home last month, after they kept losing out on homes priced in the highly competitive sub-$500,000 market. ‘It’s more like an auction nowadays,’ said Ms. Garcia.” [California Housing Shows Revival Sign, Wall Street Journal, January 23, 2010]
And this morning in Market Watch’s Economic Report, we have this title, Existing Home Sales Plummet 16.7% in December. “The 16.7% percentage decline from November to December was the largest on record, dating back to 1968, the National Association of Realtors reported.” But the same article then states that, “Sales in December were up 15% compared with December 2008.”
Watching statistics as they are reported and interpreted by the news media can be depressing and often misleading. Retirees who are moving to Sequim and Port Angeles and buying or building their retirement homes are focused largely on what is best for them financially and consistent with their long-term goals. They are intelligent and discerning, and their decisions are certainly within the context of a larger economic picture (their retirement fund, their savings, expected future income, etc.), but they are governed by their own wisdom about buying in Sequim and Port Angeles and not tossed about by every wind and rumor. And that is a good thing.
Last Updated on July 27, 2012 by Chuck Marunde
