Are you prepared to take advantage of an improved housing market? Recent stats point to a slow recovery in the housing market in the Pacific Northwest and other regions of the country. Do you have the presence needed on the internet to make your company stand out? If internet marketing in Portland and Seattle is part of your overall marketing plan the potential for increased market share may be linked to an improved housing market.
This ran recently at Bloomberg:
Contracts to Purchase Existing U.S. Homes Hold Near 19-Month High: Economy
Jan. 25 (Bloomberg) — Thomas Lee, chief U.S. equity strategist at JPMorgan Chase & Co., talks about investment strategy and the outlook for U.S. stocks. Lee speaks with Betty Liu and Dominic Chu on Bloomberg Television’s “In the Loop.” Brian Battle of Performance Trust Capital Partners also speaks. (Source: Bloomberg)
The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes in December held near a 19-month high, showing the stabilization in the market that began in late 2011 will extend into the new year.
The index of pending home sales decreased 3.5 percent last month after jumping a combined 18 percent in October and November, figures from the National Association of Realtors showed today in Washington. It was the best back-to-back reading since a buyer tax credit boosted demand in early 2010.
“We’ve had a clear turn toward positive momentum in the housing market,” Aaron Smith, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. inWest Chester, Pennsylvania, and the third most accurate forecaster of pending home sales. “Lower unemployment and higher confidence, coupled with record low mortgage rates, are coalescing to spur increased buying.”
The ability of the market to sustain gains in the absence of government incentives may mean housing has stopped weighing on growth. President Barack Obama yesterday proposed a plan aimed at reducing monthly mortgage payments, which would help combat a drop in home prices that Federal Reserve policy makers say is impeding the world’s largest economy.
Central bankers said today that they’ll keep their benchmark interest rate low until at least late 2014 to help stoke the economy.
Fed Statement
“While indicators point to some further improvement in overall labor market conditions, the unemployment rate remains elevated,” the Fed said in its statement. “Household spending has continued to advance, but growth in business fixed investment has slowed, and the housing sector remains depressed.”
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