Some Good News on Housing
By Paul Weinstein Jr.

One area where the stimulus is having a positive impact is in the housing sector. A spate of new data indicates that the housing market may have turned the corner. First, today it was announced that the value of U.S. homes grew on a monthly basis in May for the first time in nearly three years, according to a 20-city index released by Standard & Poor’s and economists Case-Shiller. Second, new home sales rose in June at the fastest clip in more than eight years as buyers eagerly took advantage of bargain prices. Sales have now risen for three months in a row. Finally, the construction of new homes is at the busiest level since last fall. Why is the housing recovery so important? Because as we stated in “Moving Houses: How Sparking a Housing Recovery Is the Key to America’s Economic Recovery,” an analysis of the nation’s economic history reveals that the housing market’s resurgence has led a wider turnaround in five of the last seven recessions. So give some credit to the Obama Administration’s and the Federal Reserve’s efforts to create incentives to buy homes, keep interest rates low, and help families avoid foreclosures. However, although the news is getting better, now is not the time to rest on our laurels. In that vein, we recommend that Congress quickly send President Obama a bill expanding the current $8000 first-time buyers’ tax credit to all homebuyers, to encourage existing homeowners, as well as those dipping their toes into homeownership for the first time, to invest in a new primary residence. Getting everyday homeowners buying again could lighten the load on the rest of the economy and mean more orders for manufacturers and help create jobs for construction workers, electricians, plumbers, and others. And that would leave Washington more room to focus its attention on more drastic, if not pressing, challenges elsewhere.

First things first as I sit down to a stack of To Do’s on my desk on this sunny Charleston morning.

58 years ago, a baby girl was born 3 months after me in the exact same hospital room in Clinton, NC.    The hospital had only one delivery room.  It’s quite possible that she was even born on the same hospital bed as me.   Through our child and teen years, she and I remained close friends, even puppy lovers from time to time.   She went off to the University of North Carolina.  I went off to Vietnam.  Our paths didn’t cross again for 38 years.

A few years ago, I called her one evening while driving from NC to Florida.   We talked through 3 states.  Something special was still there.

2 years later, we are now real estate business partners and, in many ways, life partners.   The textures and depths of the history born in that hospital room 58 years earlier remains intertwined and richly meaningful.

Rebecca Warren Gooden is loved, appreciated and respected by all, including her business partner.

This week her Rotary Club of Mt Pleasant acknowledged their respect by giving her their Annual Presidential Citation.   She is Rotarian of the year.  Rotary’s motto is Service Above Self.   The club surely selected an exceptionally dedicated service oriented giver this year.   Rebecca is always there for anyone who needs a helping hand or a warm heart.  Always.

She’s a busy and successful entrepreneur who owns a residential real estate business (Gooden+Faircloth), a real estate investment business, a NC golf course and a top-ranked Mt Pleasant Restaurant (Crave Kitchen & Cocktails).  She’s a member of more professional organizations than I can keep up with.

Congratulations and thank you Rebecca.   You are loved, appreciated and deeply respected.