| Kim Sweet |
Almost all the news I've heard lately is grounded in fear. Fear of snipers, bombs, layoffs, other countries, the economy. Fear has permeated our lives to the extent that we sometimes look for trouble where there is none. So seems to be the case with the housing bubble.
Eric Belsky, executive director of Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies, makes a strong case against the existence of a bubble in most of the country. For one thing, the ratio of median home price to median household income has remained at about 3.3 to 3.4 throughout the past decade. For another, examining change in home price and change in income over the past 10 years shows that income has outpaced housing price in most major metropolitan areas.
Joint Center senior scholar William Apgar shared what I consider to be even better news: The latest research by the Joint Center's Remodeling Futures Program indicates that the size of the remodeling industry has grown to more than $200 billion.
Keeping these positive facts firmly at the front of our minds, let's promise each other to spend less time bogged down by our fears and more time concentrating on the products, projects, people and practices that will build profitable, sustainable businesses and lives.