It seems to me that the reports and even the media are saying that residential real estate has most likely already bottomed out. The recovery has begun. One report states the majority of homeowners surveyed (across the U.S.) are believing that the values of their homes won't be dropping and may even go up! Things are settling down. I am guilty of the same reporting. I said the same thing back in January! So, is it over? It will take about 6 more months to make certain we are past it however the signs are good that the residential real estate market has stabilized.

Where do we go from here? In my thoughts residential real estate will stay relatively flat here in Idaho with perhaps a 1-2% gain over the next couple of years. It is important to remember that real estate in Idaho generally appreciates at 4% per year on average. More importantly we need people to get back to work. We need jobs here in Meridian that pay more than $10.00 dollars an hour. If the majority of jobs are $10.00 dollars per hour and are part time with no health benefits, it will become difficult for first time home buyers to buy a home. Unless the cost of the home stays low. If you recall one of the things that helped caused the real estate bust was first time buyers were priced out of the market. If you can't sell a starter home to an owner occupant, the move up homes become unreachable. The market stalls and well you know the rest.

The City of Meridian has begun working on The Health Sciences & Technology Corridor, The Core They also have the Meridian Development Corporation (MDC) For more information about the MDC, please visit its web site.

Let's keep moving forward and pull ourselves up and out of this mess we are in. We have done it before as a Nation and there is no reason we can't do it now. There is no quick fix. Just good planning and hard work.