As the new year winds its way into existence through the problems left behind by the past years, we all find ourselves trying to have hope of a prosperous year to come. We have a new president coming into office with, what the news commentators term as, a major economic stimulus plan. All we can do is speculate...good or bad? I have heard some refer to the failure of Roosevelt's New Deal and remark that they hope President-Elect Obama heeds to the lessons of the past.
So, will the housing market be saved with this new stimulus plan? Will the consumers become more confident as the year moves forward and credit is finally loosened? Again, we can only speculate.
Here on Kauai, things have been flat. The median price of single family homes has only dropped by a mere .06% over the last year. This is incredible, considering sales have dropped off by a whopping 36%. We look to 2009 as a fairly flat year. We certainly don't expect any major increases. While inventory remains high, sellers are not convinced they need to drop their asking prices dramatically. So, for now, we are playing the wait-and-see game like everyone else.
