Looking for reasons to be optimistic about the housing market in 2014? The researchers at Cassidy Turley have just given you 10.
Cassidy Turley recently released its latest report — the cheerily titled “10 Reasons to be Optimistic About Commercial Real Estate in 2014” — to provide some early-year cheer to overworked real estate professionals.
And here, ranked from 10th to first, are the reasons for CRE pros to look forward to the rest of 2014:
10. The housing engine is just getting started. According to Cassidy Turley, 48 out of 152 metro areas are reporting home-price gains of 10 percent or more.
9. America is in the middle of an energy boom. This is causing certain parts of the country to boom, too. And these areas need new housing, apartments and retail.
8. The tech industry is still strong. According to Cassidy Turley, venture capitalists invested $7.7 billion in U.S. tech companies in the third quarter of 2013 alone.
7. The U.S. GDP is getting stronger. This could result in a bigger economy and more confident consumers.
6. Speaking of which, Cassidy Turley lists more confident consumers as its sixth-biggest reason for hope this year.
5. Federal Reserve Board officials are expecting job growth to continue.
4. Speaking of that, job growth is continuing now. In 2013, the United States created 180,000 jobs a month. It is forecast that in 2014 it will create 198,000.
3. The risk of another recession is a low one. Cassidy Turley cites research from Moody’s Analytics saying that there is only a 4 percent chance that the United States will suffer a severe recession in 2014.
2. Both households and corporations are enjoying stronger balance sheets today. According to Cassidy Turley, the household debt service ratio stands at 10 percent, the lowest it’s been in 30 years. Corporate profits are near record levels of $1.2 trillion.
1. Finally, there is less fiscal uncertainty coming from the federal government. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2013, signed into law on Dec. 26 of last year, funded the federal government through the fall of 2015. That removed fiscal uncertainty that had been weighing on the U.S. economy for three years.
