The Economic Recovery Has Begun!

Hey Everybody,

Today, the Commerce Department announced that U.S. housing starts jumped a staggering 22.2 percent to an annual rate of 583,000 units last month. That is the biggest percentage rise since 1990.

Housing (banking) led us into this economic mess and it will be housing that leads us out of this mess...

Last week, CitiBank shocked everyone by turning a profit.

This week, home builders shocked everyone by actually building homes again. This announcement comes as the first gain in housing starts since April of last year.

Wall street understood the meaning of this announcement and posted a 178.73 point (2.48%) gain for the Dow, NASDAQ posted a 58.09 point (4.14%) gain, and the S&P 500 gained 24.23 points (3.13%) on the Commerce Department's great announcement.

All last week, I was reading stories by the various so called experts saying that this month's housing news from the Commerce Department will be more bad news... In reality, this day or this week may well mark the turning point in the market. 5 out of the last 6 Wall Street sessions ended the day in the green... The economic recovery has begun!

Here are some of today's stories.....
- Wall Street Journal - Home Building Rebounds While Wholesale Prices Rise
- CNN - Housing Starts Unexpectedly Surge
- Fox Business - Pleasant Surprise: Housing Starts Surge 22%
- Reuters - U.S. Housing Offers Hope For Economy
- Yahoo - Surprise Jump In Housing Starts Ignites Wall St. Rally

Reuters: A glimmer of light for US housing?

In a news video released by Reuters news agency July 25th, 2008 reports that new home sales have been better than expected.








This Reuters news video is reported by Sasha Salama with a soundbite courtesy of Eric Landry of Morningstar.

The Housing Crisis Is Over

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal on May 6, 2008 by Cyril Moulle-Berteaux, "the housing market is bottoming right now." (Click here to read the article for yourself.)


Give me a call at (360) 708-2929 and we'll go house shopping!

Blaine Real Estate

Blaine

The city of Blaine is in the Northwest Corner of Washington State at the Canadian Border. Vancouver, British Columbia is 35 miles North and Seattle is 110 miles South. The foothills of the Cascade Mountain Range are 25 miles East.



Blaine is most well known for the Peace Arch at the Canadian Border... May the gates never close!



Blaine has easy access tp the Mount Baker wilderness as well as the Mount Baker Ski Area! The Peace Arch City is also known for the 4 star rated Semiahmoo Resort and Spa as well as the Arnold Palmer designed Semiahmoo Golf Course! Blaine Harbor is also a popular destination. The South end of Blaine also includes the Birch Bay family resort community.

Search for Homes for sale by Neighborhood

Washington >> Whatcom County >> Blaine >>
Blaine Neighborhoods:

Birch Bay Blaine Custer

Ferndale Lynden

Pleasant Valley Semiahmoo

Click Here for
Whatcom County Links

Just Listed - 1.15 Acres of Buildable Land in Bow - with a View!!

Beautiful Allen Area 1.15 Acre Buildable Property with Trees and a Water View! (Buyer will need to cut down some of the trees to see the water). This property is located near several luxury homes. Only Minutes to Town! (Burlington/Mt. Vernon or Bellingham) Desirable Burlington School District. Build Your Dream! - $159,995

View More Pictures and a Flyer at http://www.sauneuf.com/

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Real Estate Photography Class...

I took a fairly advanced class in Real Estate Photography today. It was interesting hearing some of the tricks of the trade in getting that perfect picture of a building or a feature of a building as well as some of the things done in food photography.... Lets just say that the burgers you see on TV will NOT be consumed by anything other than a trash can....

I found the class to be very educational and it got me thinking about the pictures I've taken for my listings and how they can be improved.... This last sentence is the reason I took the class! I would have preferred it to be more hands-on, but it was still a good class and 7 1/2 clock-hours to boot... Not bad for $97

If you'd be interested in taking a class in Real Estate / Architectual photography and you're in Western Washington, I'd suggest calling Dennis Huckaby at (360) 332-1570 or Send an E-Mail to huckaby1@comcast.net

I've been an avid hobby-photographer for years and know a good amount about photography... I'm not a professional photographer by any means, but I'd say that I'm a good semi-pro....

As a result of a phone call with Dennis as well as some nice home-staging from the Seller, I had a listing photo go from this:

to this:

Nice improvement, eh...?