What's in store for '09?
I hope you had a great Christmas and a great 2008! As we're learning, economically things move s-l-o-w-l-y in Montana. While most of the country is finally seeing housing crash back to reality (a painful but necessary process), Billings is still "bumping along the top" as I like to say. Is this the last hurrah, or can the trillions in bailouts from Washington help keep Montana afloat?
Local housing stats update coming soon. The big story is staggering inventory levels even in the face of huge construction declines! There's a glut of homes out there, and fewer people to buy them. Crack out your Basic Economics books and read about what that means for prices..
Thanks to everyone who follows this blog! I'll keep you posted on new developments throughout 2009.
The scary thing is, that despite the extraordinary steps taken since March 2008 by the feds, the economy and the housing market continues to nosedive. The problems in housing have moved well beyond the subprime area and appear to be viral in nature. Now with job losses snowballing, we appear to be in for some tough times in 2009 and beyond.