My Real Estate Blog

Last Tuesday Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had a chance to discuss issues other than the recent Bond purchase, and during this time he brought up concerns over job growth. Bernanke noted, "At the pace of growth that we’re seeing now, we’re not growing fast enough to materially reduce the unemployment rate." He says "the economy needs to grow at an annualized rate of 2 to 2.5 percent just to accommodate new workers coming into the labor force."

According to The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, however, consumers are increasingly upbeat about future job prospects, with those polled expecting more jobs, income increases, and fewer job declines.

The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index has improved for 2 straight months now. This index is based on a monthly representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. Consumer confidence is now at its highest level in five months, a welcome sign as we enter the holiday season. Consumers' assessment of the current state of the economy and job market, while only slightly better than last month, suggests the economy is still expanding, albeit slowly. Expectations, the main driver of this month's increase in confidence, are now at the highest level since May. Hopefully, the improvement in consumers' mood will continue in the months ahead.

Commercial real estate markets are reportedly stabilizing, as well. Lawrence Yun, the chief economist for the National Association of REALTORS reports that the slowly improving economy has led to a rise in commercial leasing demand. He says this "means overall vacancy rates have already peaked or will soon top out."