Saturday, November 22, 2008

Straw in the Wind? (UPDATED)

Several days ago we had meetings with investment advisors in connection with a client matter. One of the professionals said that his firm saw no turn-around in the stock market until the real estate market "bottomed out." Only then, I suppose, would investors and lenders have some comfort afforded by whatever real estate secures or is related to the investment or debt.

Last night Carol and I attended a dinner party where a number of tax and real estate lawyers from around the state were in attendance. A lawyer on the west coast of Florida, around Brooksville, said that the market there continued to be just awful. A lawyer on the east coast of Florida, around Ft. Pierce, said that prices there had stabilized. He said that the Fort Pierce area historically led the state in terms of the real estate market. He said that it was apparent much earlier than the rest of the state that they were over-building; he therefore would expect the local market to improve ahead of the rest of the state. I take that as an encouraging sign for Florida's economy, and maybe the rest of the country.

UPDATE: Guess not. I had forgotten that these things are now up to the federal government. Sorry.

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