Hard to believe we are still in a recession (Portland: real estate market, apartment complexes)
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Location: Land Of Moose, Blueberries and Chickadees
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Having worked for a cruise line I can tell you that many of them either saved up for a long while for that cruise or they got last minute awesome deals to fill up the ship. Not all cruises are expensive.
As for people still buying...yes and no. What we don't know is how many of them are living off of their credit cards?
Numbers wise, visitors ARE down. People are not taking the week long vacations anymore, they are taking three or four days, instead. We may still see a lot of people, but we aren't seeing them as long as we have been and we aren't seeing as many as we have.
And again, we don't know how many are living off of their credit cards.
Sure, some people are doing well regardless of this economy but many are not. It's pretty sad to hear that 20K people are living in a tent city in CA. That's ridiculous and it SHOULD be on the news but....
Nah...I'm not going political. I'll just leave it at that.
I find that many truly poor people have no voice and are rarely "seen." I see many in my line of work. These are not just people 'living off the dole' or 'slackers' or 'lie-abouts" collecting Queenly welfare benefits. These are people who truly work hard and ride the BAT bus to and from work and live on bare minimum with little to no assistance.
These are the ones who are working 2 or more part-time jobs (usually retail and/or convenience stores). Many would like to get out of the slumlord sections of the city; however, they barely make rent there much less on a better side of town.
I also know others who are up to their eyeballs in debt and are struggling to make ends meet. Sure, they live in a lovely house in the burbs, but the sad fact that they don't want anyone to know is that they're broke and they've stopped answering the debt collector calls.
I think it's very difficult to make a judgement call based on how many bags of goods one is carrying around. Some people lack the common sense to pay off bills before they go do a little "retail therapy."
Numbers wise, visitors ARE down. People are not taking the week long vacations anymore, they are taking three or four days, instead. We may still see a lot of people, but we aren't seeing them as long as we have been and we aren't seeing as many as we have.
Nail on the head. Regular vacations are a thing of the past. In the past I would spend 2 full weeks in Maine on vacation. This year was 3 full days and then 1 day driving home. It's hard to justify long vacations when you need to save money. You just don't know if someone will get laid off soon or if product prices are going to rise drastically, so you can't spend as much as you'd like to.
People who live on Mount Desert Island(Acadia National Park) tell me that it has been a good year, and here in mid September it shows no sign of letting up.
A "recession" is defined by certain criteria that we are no longer in. See:
What is recession? definition and meaning A period of general economic decline; typically defined as a decline in GDP for two or more consecutive quarters. A recession is typically accompanied by a drop in the stock market, an increase in unemployment, and a decline in the housing market.
The recession has actually been over for a long while now.
That being said, the economy is certainly far from healthy. Still lots of problems. But it isn't a recession.
Please explain exactly what you mean by a decline in the housing market.....number of foreclosures outweighing number of home purchases? fewer new homes being built and sold? or something else? Also, when the new jobs numbers are made public, don't forget to count the number of jobs lost during the same time (focus on net jobs which I believe have been in the negative numbers for a while now) and the number of people who gave up looking .... also those who used to make $80,000 a year (example) who now make $30,000 a year or less. I think that would be referred to as underemployed.
People who live on Mount Desert Island(Acadia National Park) tell me that it has been a good year, and here in mid September it shows no sign of letting up.
Did you poll the entire MDI population or just the summer visitors.
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"Save a Carrot, Eat a Burger"
(set 8 days ago)
6,164 posts, read 6,617,730 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mainegrl2011
Please explain exactly what you mean by a decline in the housing market.....number of foreclosures outweighing number of home purchases? fewer new homes being built and sold? or something else? Also, when the new jobs numbers are made public, don't forget to count the number of jobs lost during the same time (focus on net jobs which I believe have been in the negative numbers for a while now) and the number of people who gave up looking .... also those who used to make $80,000 a year (example) who now make $30,000 a year or less. I think that would be referred to as underemployed.
A strong housing market is like a high tide, it lifts ALL boats,
When you step back and look at all of the jobs in the housing market, it's an eye-opener, from the lumber companies, to loan officers at a bank, to land surveyors, to paralegals, lawyers, real estate agents, to electricians, roofers, flooring contractors, painters, foundation, concrete contractors, carpenters, window companies,
architects, engineers, landscape companies, insurance companies, moving companies, and many many more
and this is the so called trickle down affect- that gets so demonized, when all these folks and companies, are hired, they get paid, then they can buy goods and services , to help out other economies.(buy new cars, go out to eat, etc.)
the housing market is getting better but still saturated with foreclosures and short sales. not a building market
A strong housing market is like a high tide, it lifts ALL boats,
When you step back and look at all of the jobs in the housing market, it's an eye-opener, from the lumber companies, to loan officers at a bank, to land surveyors, to paralegals, lawyers, real estate agents, to electricians, roofers, flooring contractors, painters, foundation, concrete contractors, carpenters, window companies,
architects, engineers, landscape companies, insurance companies, moving companies, and many many more
and this is the so called trickle down affect- that gets so demonized, when all these folks and companies, are hired, they get paid, then they can buy goods and services , to help out other economies.(buy new cars, go out to eat, etc.)
the housing market is getting better but still saturated with foreclosures and short sales. not a building market
So I guess you would say it's not lifting very many boats....no where near the boats that would be lifted if the housing market were truly healthy.
Status:
"Save a Carrot, Eat a Burger"
(set 8 days ago)
6,164 posts, read 6,617,730 times
Reputation: 6073
Quote:
Originally Posted by mainegrl2011
So I guess you would say it's not lifting very many boats....no where near the boats that would be lifted if the housing market were truly healthy.
Green grass and high tides forever...... and the tide is high are just lyrics for now(outlaws and blondie)
hopefully the tide will turn in a few months
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