You and I both know that this site has taken a tough look at the real estate market. I think it has been objective, but I am sure that others will disagree.
My perspective has always been from the consumers point of view, not the industries. As such, I am concerned how the real estate industry best serves the consumer and looks out for their needs while providing interesting and pertinent information for the professionals.
On that note…
I found this compendium article at Business Week that is essentially a talking point list for those in the industry that need positive things to say.
Here are the key points I dredged out that can be used to motivate a buyer…
- “I would bet even odds that we’re at a bottom and that we’re going to see improvement in the coming months,” said Karl Case, co-creator of the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index and a professor of economics at Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
- “When people get jobs, that’s when they move or decide to buy a bigger house,” he said.
- “The underlying trend is turning positive,” said Bruce Kasman, chief economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York.
- “This is an important step in the right direction,” Peter Hooper, chief economist at Deutsche Bank Securities in New York, and his colleagues wrote in a report to clients last month. Mortgage originations for the purchase of a home will rise to $745 billion this year and $822 billion next year, the highest since 2008, from $740 billion in 2009, according to forecasts from the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association.
- The average household had 177.8 percent of the income needed to purchase a property in January, the highest since a record 184 percent in April 2009, when mortgage rates tumbled to 4.78 percent, according to data from the Realtors’ association.
- “We don’t anticipate a massive widening of spreads once the Fed stops buying,” he said. “It will be a few basis points here and there.” As a result, he sees mortgage rates remaining “about where they are now.”
- “If we get a rebound, you could see excess supply disappear very quickly,” Lawler said.
- “The underlying trend in home sales is for gradual improvement,” Maki of Barclays Capital said. “While activity will remain at low levels for some time, the housing bust is essentially over.”
If you have been looking for positive talking points here they are. All I ask is that you use them for good and not evil. 
Good luck out there in the spring selling season!
You have been armed.
