Recession? What do you guys think? (Smyrna, Vinings: Home Depot, stores, estate)

[newmover99]

Originally Posted by brightstar78

Just curious. Do you think we are in the midst of one? I'm not too sure. What do you guys think?

Things have been so bad so long for most of us it is almost impossible to tell lol

[gt6974a]

Originally Posted by newmover99

Things have been so bad so long for most of us it is almost impossible to tell lol

so long??? please explain.

[Twinkletoes]

No, not a recession yet. I think the media has overexaggerated the economic effects of the housing market. Yes, it is slowing. But as another poster pointed put, it doesn't affect you unless you are buying or selling, or in the construction business. And now is a great time to buy, with low interest rates.

Unemployment rates are not high. Here in Atlanta we have not seen huge drops in home prices. Maybe a little lower in some areas, but not a catastrophe. Businesses are still hiring in Atlanta. The malls are full of shoppers. Not a recession yet.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by gt6974a

so long??? please explain.

I think some sectors (like the IT sector) have actually been relatively slow ever since the last bubble burst in 2001.

I still know folks in the Twin Cities who were laid off from the airline I worked for just after 9/11 who don't have permanent IT work, and who are still doing the contract thing to make ends meet. Some of those folks eventually ended up leaving IT entirely.

That sort of thing didn't happen in IT in the mid-1990's.

[San]

We have access to a great deal of information that most people don't read. I have to agree with Jessiesma. Things are tough, and scary. If you really dig deep and look at things, the national growth reports are being jigged. I don't think things are going to get better anytime soon and will probably get a bit worse in some areas before that happens. We're going along of fake propups.

[K'ledgeBldr]

Originally Posted by brightstar78

Just curious. Do you think we are in the midst of one? I'm not too sure. What do you guys think?

Originally Posted by wxjay

We can't be in a recession because a recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. Economic growth has slowed, but it was still positive in the last quarter. You'll have to wait till the summer to assess things again.

Most economic experts will say they can't tell you when we're in a recession, or when it started, until we're knee deep in it.
I'd say, yes. It's definitely a recession. My guestamation of when it started was Apr '07. When does it end????????????????????????????????????

[south-to-west]

Personally, I think we're in a recession given the recent mass layoffs in the banking sector, the losses reported by many Fortune 500 comapanies and financial institutions, the credit crunch, and the housing market plunge. Retailers have also reported a huge drop in sales over the Holidays.

Once the Bureau of Economic Analysis calculates the GDP for year end 2007 and after we see what the GDP will be over the next 2 or 3 quarters, we will definitely know if we're in a recession. My hunch is that we have been in the beginning stages of a recession for the past 6 months.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Personally, I think we're in a recession given the recent mass layoffs in the banking sector, the losses reported by many Fortune 500 comapanies and financial institutions, the credit crunch, and the housing market plunge. Retailers have also reported a huge drop in sales over the Holidays.

Home Depot just laid off 500 folks (broken link) from their corporate headquarters in the Vinings/Cumberland area. Not cool.

[jessiesma]

In Brandon (Tampa area) In December but it was 3000 from a call center they closed. Happy Holidays everyone This area is already pretty bad for those type jobs. These folks have no place to go.

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

Home Depot just laid off 500 folks (broken link) from their corporate headquarters in the Vinings/Cumberland area. Not cool.

[netdragon]

I could tell Home Depot was hurting by the way they are understaffing their stores lately. I'm concerned about the affect Home Depot could have on Vinings/Smyrna real estate if it went under.