The Wall Street Journal's Jim Carlton this morning runs down the home-building industry's worries for 2009, despite a new administration in Washington and an ambitious stimulus plan for the economy. Basically, it may all be too little too late to really make a big difference this year:
One problem with the $775 billion stimulus plan proposed by President Barack Obama, some economists said, is that it would move too slowly to help much with this year's housing market. Some tax cuts envisioned under the plan, they said, would most likely be used by consumers to help pay down personal debt, rather than for big-ticket items such as houses.
In this week's print Observer, Oliver Haydock talks to New York real estate pros about the prospects of an Obama administration positively impacting the housing market here. The verdict, generally? Hope is well and good, but let's get on with it!
