Thanks to Eileen Jenkins, EMT and Trainer, we learned valuable emergency first aid skills including CPR. For example, to stop a nose-bleed, you hold your head down and squeeze your nostrils. Many thought the correct procedure was to tilt your head backwards (blood then drains down your throat – a no-no). Here’s another – 90% of bleeds can be stopped by applying consistent pressure. Eileen, you did a great job putting up with our not-always-on-task group.
For those of us whose constantly monitor the housing market, we’re ever watchful for what we hope will be the bottom of this Great Recession. Why are we looking so hard? Because no recovery can start until most of the lights are off. The bottom will give us a new foundation upon which the economy and the housing market can rebuild. Thankfully, all real estate markets are local. We’re very grateful that we’re in the Washington Metro market which is still supporting strong job growth. Many areas of the country (FL, AZ, NV, CA) still have considerable bleeding left before they reach the bottom.
In a recent report by Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody’s Economy.com, noted that prices in the Washington Metro market would decline by about 6% butrebound next year by more than 4%. Another report by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence places the DC area in the top 10 real estate markets in the country.
Speaking in very local terms, our Calvert County market seems to be sprouting some “green shoots” of stabilization. In fact, our home and lot prices have started to rise in the last few months. This hasn’t happened for over two years. Be on the lookout for Melissa’s upcoming blog post where she’ll do an in depth analysis of our local sales activity.
So just maybe what I see rising under my feet is the bottom. Let’s hope.
