HARTMAN: Housing Prices Continue to Slide

by Shawn Hartman

Analysts, economists, politicians, and citizens are calling this era the “Great Recession.” I call it a mistake — a big, expensive mistake.

Blame it on whatever you want. Loose credit markets and lend-happy banks, governmental deregulation, 6% savings rates (which have fallen to 3%) are all to blame and then some for the downfall. Then, there’s the real estate market. ‘Nuff’ said.

Surely, you and I both can accept and expect a worse market in cities that helps make the world go ‘round. Places like Phoenix, Arizona (-36.1%) are seeing serious median price slides. Miami, Florida (-33.1%), New York City (-16.3%), and Philadelphia (-10.5%) all top the list in the “price cut.” We don’t even want to get started on Detroit, Michigan, trust me. All of these cities around the country are heading towards disaster even more so than what they are experiencing now. Expect a steeper decrease, and I mean it.

But, what’s going on here at home? How badly has the faltering economy affected us? Well, let’s just look at some numbers: Erie has a -5.6% drop while “over east,” Reading’s holding on pretty well at -1.1%. What about Pittsburgh, where do we stand? Pittsburgh and surrounding areas (like Kittanning and Ford City) are definitely holding their own by only sliding 0.8% which is pretty impressive in my opinion. Earlier this year reading a Time magazine story, Pittsburgh’s home prices ranked number two on the least likely to slide list. That’s not really what the list was called; that’s just what we’re labeling it today.

So, what have we learned? Pittsburgh remains strong. Even world leaders from around the world compliment our ability to rise above and beat this economy. Maybe Pittsburgh really is “The City of Champions.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be Librarians” -Warren Buffett

HARTMAN: Mr. Dow, What Does 10,000 Mean?

by Shawn Hartman

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) finally crept back up to 10,000 last Wednesday. Big, right? Maybe. Sure, the DJIA has gained incredible momentum this year after bottoming out a few trillion dollars lower at 6,469.95 on March 6^th, but is this merely a bubble? Are we over-capitalizing the market? Pumping it full just to make ourselves feel or think things are getting better? Or, is this thing really getting better? After a battery of good news from statistics on everything from retail to financials, the DJIA has had a dramatic rebound. In my opinion, we’ve bottomed out. Leading economic analysts seem to think so as well. But, are we seeing this “rebound” locally? Well, I’ve asked that to every small business owner I can think of. It’s about 50/50 from what I’ve gathered. Some businesses in Armstrong and surrounding counties are doing rough, and there are businesses that are doing well. “Hit and miss” — so to speak. From what I’ve  seen, businesses that are scraping along, look like they are with dilapidated store fronts, confusing “sales,” questionable business ethics, and just plain disregard for customer service. Businesses that are thriving and profiting through the downturn are exactly the opposite. Their storefronts are well maintained, they’ve streamlined the inner workings of their business, they provide excellent customer service, and they have a great feel for marketing. I’m so tired of hearing some people tell me that the economy not getting any better and they’re going to fail. Maybe, they’re just not trying quite hard enough. Will a bigger DJIA make us flourish? Not without everyone’s cooperation. It’s time for change, Armstrong County. Make it.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have” -Thomas Jefferson