Housing Market is Cautiously Optimistic

Whew... the housing market may be headed into the black...

In 2009 the market bottomed out, with residential building permits at their lowest in over 50 years. In the mean time, the construction industry has been on the front lines of the economic battlefield, with thousands of businesses struggling to keep in the fight. 

Yet… there is hope on the horizon.

After nearly 7 years of recession, construction professionals and industry insiders, report that the market is slowly stabilizing with an (0.6%) increase forecast for 2012. While this number is modest, it does reveal that the industry is finally headed in a positive direction.

Consumer confidence, however, is still on shaky ground. According to recent poll, conducted on Nov 7th, 2011 by the Wall Street Journal, only 25% of the respondents felt the economy would improve in the next 12 months, revealing that consumers are still hesitant to embrace an optimistic outlook. Compare this to a less recent CBS poll conducted on June 8th, 2011, which reported that 44% were optimistic about the economic outlook, and it is apparent that we have our work cut out for us.

What does all of this mean... things may be looking up for 2012!