Is it over? (the recession)

It's glorious to wake up and check the national business journals to find an actual positive headline.  Today the Washington Business Journal says that new construction was up 22% in February.

While that's not where I live, I want to capitalize on every piece of positive news available as counter to the tsunami of negative reporting.   My region is the south and it's also positive -- housing construction permits up 5.9% from January.  Unfortunately sales in February were still slightly down from a year ago in every suburb in the Dallas metro area with the lone exception of Celina (Source:  NTREIS Activity Report, February, 2009).

Real estate is not only local, in a large metropolitan area like ours, it varies widely from suburb to suburb.  Park Cities sales are down 48% in February from a year ago; the far north Dallas (north of LBJ) area is down only 5%.

So is the recession over?  A client told me on Monday that it was.  He's an economist; I'm not.  His statement was based on the fact that "people are beginning to ask if it's over, and that's how you know it is".  This is what I know:  I talk to new buyers and sellers every day.   Our market may not be moving quite as fast as last year, but it's definitely moving.  And in a good direction.

For a copy of the February, 2009 NTREIS Report (MLS report), click here.