1. Real estate is big news. We’ve gotten beyond the boom and bust bubble stories that dominated the headlines for three years, but now we’re being bombarded with speculation about whether a shifting market is in for a soft or hard landing. There’s not a day without some housing talk by the media. For more than six consecutive years, until this year, the housing sector enjoyed a steady, robust uptick of rapidly rising prices, fast paced transactions, and high numbers of sales. This year, growth has been minimal. With ever expanding inventories of new development projects, trading has slowed, sales volume is down and prices have leveled. In addition, across the country, new housing starts have declined. Nonetheless, value abounds in the marketplace.
