Confidence in the Economy

Q: Has your confidence level in the local, state and wolrd economy increased or decreased since last year, and why?

Sean Conlon: Honestly, I think the market has continued to be strong. The U.S. has the strongest economy in the world and it seems to have repaired itself and is building steam again.

Carol Prieto: I think it has increased. It seems to me that everything is increasing. I manage the Evanston/Winnetka offices for Jameson Sotheby’s, and the Evanston office increased 25 percent last year in terms of buying. That means there’s a lot more consumer confidence than there was before, to have that much of an increase. There’s a little lack of inventory, which of course pushes the prices up, but people aren’t like they were a long time ago; they’re not willing to pay any amount no matter what. There’s more caution there, but it’s still showing how resilient the economy can be.

Jeff Benach: I think my confidence in the economy is about the same this year. The market wasn’t as good as last year, but we were recovering from a down market; before the crash, there were 25,000 starts per year, but this year, there were 7,500. Next year, I see the economy continuing to stay as it is, although I do see an improvement in the market this year. John Burnes annual forecast saw Chicago as one of the top four improving markets in the nation. Part of this big improvement is due to job increases in the city and suburbs.

Q: How confident are you in the housing market for 2015?

Colleen Bara:  I’m cautiously optimistic that with continued job improvements, low mortgage rates and rising inventories of homes, 2015 will be the most positive housing market since 2007.

Teresa Ryan: I believe that we are entering into a very good period for real estate, with a good balance of seller and buyer demand. The fundamentals are very promising.

Kathleen Malone: Very! Extremely! I think stability is always good. Growth is great, but stability is really important, and I think that buyers and sellers feel like they’re both in a comfortable environment right now. People have a little more money, the economy’s doing well overall, sellers don’t feel like they’re losing their shirts if they sell and buyers don’t feel like they have to jump on the first thing they see. That creates a better environment.