In reading these comments, I thought that it would be best to share them:

“employment losses have steadily declined over the past six months.  In fact, private sector jobs (ex-construction) have risen over the past two months….The stark reality of the unemployment situation is that higher education levels are associated with lower unemployment-and vice versa unfortunately.  Unemployment for college graduates is 5 percent-for high school drop outs the rate is 15 percent.  Meanwhile, the average duration of unemployment remains high at 30 weeks.  There is a significant skills mismatch in the U.S. economy.  It is not as thought there are no jobs.  More precisely, there are no jobs for many willing workers who do not have the skills to compete in the 21st century workplace.”

“In his interview on CNBC last Tuesday, Thomas Hoenig, President of the Kansas City Fed said that a move to higher rates should not derail an economic recovery.”

“Housing starts will be in the 650,000 to 700,000 range for the second half of this year.”

“for the fourth quarter, all 20 metro area surveyed showed improvement in their annual price numbers.  Over the last six months there have been solid gains in home prices in San Francisco, Phoenix and Los Angeles.  Las Vegas saw a decline of 4.8 percent.”

Source:  Wells Fargo Securities Report

Keep an eye on the unemployment numbers, it will show a path towards the real estate market…good or bad.