Kona Kohala Blog

With all the talk of a recovery in the works, the housing market seems to be overlooked.  Now that industry has trimmed any remaining fat they're showing a profit which makes people on Wall Street happy and that's showing up in stock prices.

Over all the stock market has gained back most of what was lost late last year and early this year but these times they are a changing.  You can't have a recovery without getting people back to work.  So, while the market and most financial institutions are gasping their way back to life, the real guts of the economy, the people that live in the U.S., aren't doing so well.  An independent report on consumers today caused a correction in the stock market when numbers showed declining jobs, increasing foreclosures and less spending.  It seems the 70% of our GDP isn't doing its part in supporting the recovery the administration is so proud of.

Here in Hawaii our median price continues its decline averaging about a 20% drop compared to last October and November.  Market activity is picking up as investors and some first time home buyers grab at the low end offerings but the mid and high end properties just keep racking up Days on Market.

It's time for some small and large business stimulants.  Instead of bailing out the big guys lets motivate the employers to expand their business and hire again.  Like it or not, the interest rate has got to go up.  A declining dollar is now having the effect of dragging down American business.

Stimulus packages in the form of tax cuts for business might just encourage hiring.  Cutting the cost of having employees will go a long way towards making that happen but that's going to call for some union cooperation and that's not something we see very often, in fact, never that I can recall.