Saturday, June 13, 2009

BUYERS BEWARE: Prices are actually falling. Click to read my Newsday column.

Though it was never really in doubt, it became obvious at the end of May that it’s a buyer’s market. Our real estate agent sponsored the Disney Pixar hit UP and treats to go along. UP was certainly a good choice, not only because it deals in a far-fetched way with moving house, but also because the sight of a house floating above the clouds sums up the global real estate situation up to 2008.The buyer’s market is not only in real estate. There are other areas where consumers are smiling, like automobiles, airline travel, cruise ships and at restaurants and department stores.

Still, like Disney Pixar’s UP there is room for reality. Just as Carl and Russell find themselves sitting on the curb after their adventure, consumers may find that lower prices may only be a fantasy. After all, jobs still have to be found to pay for even these low prices. Those jobs must come soon. At the start of June gasoline prices were pushing up and the Bank of Canada, fearful of a Canadian dollar in flight, inched up mortgage rates.

Click and read the full column.

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