We’ve had a marked improvement in the number of homes shown in April & May. The majority of the movement in the housing sector was in the 1st-time buyer price range with smart first-time buyers taking advantage of the $8000 credit, increased inventory and lowered prices.  But, this could initiate a trickle up effect into the higher price ranges.  Housing in the Portland metro area was at its most affordable point since December 2004 and inventory dropped to 11 months in April (down from 19.2 months in January).  See the full report at http://bit.ly/LocalMarketStats

Pending sales in Portland have continued to rise (13.6% in 2009 vs 6.8% in 2008 and -2.3% in 2007).  See graph at: http://bit.ly/PendingSales

The Associated Press released this article earlier in the week touting a trio of reports which they believe gave Wall Street a lift, with manufacturing activity shrinking at a slower pace in May, new orders with US factories rose 51.5% in May, construction spending rose .8% in May plus consumers trimmed spending slightly less than forecast.  Check out the entire article at http://bit.ly/Xe1P4

We still have an inventory of short-sales and foreclosures that are affecting the pricing in our local Portland Oregon real estate marketplace and unemployment remains an issue!  The higher interest rates are probably here to stay and are hovering right above 5%, but still historically VERY low!!

I am giving a lot of thought to personal accountability!  This is merely a forum for consideration and a way for me to mentally examine.  There are absolutely people who have medical genetic predispositions to illness or incapacity, there are those who have unforeseen accidents and those born with existing disabilities.  There are definitely people who didn’t understand the loans they were getting, there were some who were blatantly misinformed and those (like a lot of us) who couldn’t imagine the level of adjustment in our real estate and stock markets.  There are those who have endured generational poverty, those with no parent or lineage to guide them regarding money and those who suffer medical emergencies or catastrophic weather set-backs.  Somewhere, somehow we have to teach, learn and share “personal accountability” so that our world can become a better place.  We have to honor our health and physical fitness by committing to a real, not imagined, work-out schedule and eating a truly healthy diet.  We have to research our financial decisions and we have to value saving our money, by actually taking a portion out of whatever money we are making and placing it into some kind of savings.  We have to respect ourselves enough to own up to our own mistakes.  The government (as a separate, distant entity) certainly can’t fix it all and remember we ARE the government (after all, where does government get its money??), so when we say “they need to… (fill in the blank)” that means that “we need to… (fill in the blank)”.  Just a thought…..