The End is Near - or so say Economists

Everyone is looking for the "perfect" time to buy; when real estate is at an all time low and rates are even lower. The problem is, we realize the low 90-180 days after the fact.

I submit that the worst year we had in terms of sales volume was 2007. Since then the number of sales per month or day has been increasing steadily.

I know that in my property values, I saw an increase in 2008 over 2007 but that is not true in all areas. Now here are two economists that also believe the end is near:


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The country's recession is the longest and deepest in 60 years, but it will rebound in 2009, according to two economists at the Comerica Bank Economic Forecast Conference in Santa Clara, California.

Comerica Bank's chief economist Dana Johnson told approximately 600 Silicon Valley business leaders, “We should see at least a 6 percent increase in gross domestic product in the third quarter. I don't think it's at all a stretch to say that once the economy picks up steam, it will be really impressive.”

Another economist at the conference, Stanford University's John B. Shoven, agreed, but said he believes the rebound will happen in the fourth quarter of 2009.

He added as soon as investors realize the economy will strengthen in 2010, “the stock market could start to rally in the second quarter,” several months ahead of the recovery.

They both credited the economic stimulus actions taken by the U.S. Government from preventing disaster.

Johnson said, “We came within an eyelash of a catastrophic failure of our financial system.”

The economists said while President Barack Obama has surrounded himself with a strong team of economic advisors, the government won't be able to do much to prevent the unemployment rate increasing to 9 percent by mid-year.

However, Johnson said, “The federal fiscal stimulus headed our way beginning this spring...will do an enormous amount to get this economy going.”