Financial Markets
It was another uneventful week for the Dow Jones, as it never dipped below 11,500 or surged higher than 11,650 at any point. The bond market and in particular mortgage backed securities were a little more choppy, as we often saw multiple rate changes throughout the day almost every day, but the net result was flat as the 30 yr fixed rate mortgage still hovers in the upper 4’s. Mortgage backed securities had a rare rally on Wednesday, but gave it all back on Thursday. The weekly initial jobless claims report was much lower than expected, which led to an exodus from bonds.
Local Economy and Real Estate Market
Convention attendance for 2011 is expected to reach levels of 2005 and 2006, a healthy rebound from the dismal numbers of 2008 and 2009. The article below sites corporate profits as the primary reason for the rebound.
Traditional visitor traffic is also expected to improve this weekend, with an estimated 320,000 visitors expected to travel to Las Vegas to celebrate New Year’s.
Success Story of the Week:
Primary Residential climbed the ladder on the RMS report, which ranks mortgage companies by volume for loans closed in Southern Nevada. In just our 2nd full month of being licensed, we ranked 31 out of 226 in Southern Nevada in closed loan volume! (Queue the Jefferson’s theme song..Movin’ on up!)
The Tangent: “Should I spend or should I save Noooow….”
As a residential mortgage lender, my income is and will always be somewhat related to consumer spending. As consumers open their wallets, businesses profit, expand, hire, new hires spend, which leads to additional business profits, additional expansion and additional hires. In a market as hard hit as Las Vegas, with unemployment at 14%, nothing is more sorely needed than free-wheeling consumer spending. Yet as of June of 2010, the average US consumer is saving 6.4%..The highest rate of savings rate since the early 1990’s…” For the first time since the 70’s, we are actually out-saving the traditionally more conservative Canadians!
While myself and the roughly 200,000 unemployed Nevadans could certainly benefit from some good ol’ fashioned drunken sailor American spending, I can’t help but be proud that as a whole the American consumer has taken the hard knock lessons of the great recession to heart and is showing that it has learned from past mistakes (myself included)
Attached is a link to a pie chart on what the average American spends their pay check on:
HAPPY NEW-YEEEAARR!!
