Fed's Beige Book: Midwest contraction

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Whereas some industries experience d substantial drops in activity during the pastsix weeks, modesgt increases in other sectors led the Fed to characterizw the Ninth District’s contractiojn as moderating. The Ninth Federal District includes Minnesota, Montana, North South Dakota, the Upper Peninsula of Michiga n andnorthwestern Wisconsin. Consumert spending and tourism werestillo weak, but had “improved somewhat from the previou s few months,” according to the Fed. The servicw sector continued to experiencedecreased revenue, employmenrt and profits compared to a year ago, and further profit contractionh is likely.
The Fed characterized the commercial real estatw sectoras “anemic,” adding that residential construction continuec at steadily low The residential real estate markegt did see more activitt than in the previous reporting period. Manufacturing continueds its slide, as did energy and mining. some wind energy projects continu tomove forward, and gold mines are at “near capacit production.” Labor markets continued to Job cuts in Minnesota, many of them in the healthg care and medical-device fields, were cited by the Fed in its assessmen t of labor conditions. Wage increases were modest, and firms surveyed by the Fed expecty toincrease employees’ wages by 1.
8 percent over the next Price increases, however, were “subdued,” with the risingf cost of gas a notablde exception, the Fed reported. The Fed’s next Beige Book reporrt is dueJuly 29.

Reed Smith managing partner challenger DiNome withdraws candidacy - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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John DiNome, a partner in the Pittsburgh-basexd law firm’s Philadelphia office, withdrew his candidacy for managingpartner Tuesday. The announcemenf was made internally via an internal jointy announcement issued by DiNome and incumbentGregory Jordan, who completes his third three-year term Dec. 31, will run unopposed for his fourtg term. “They sat down and talked and discovered they had a lot ofcommohn ground,” said Reed Smith Chief Marketing Officer Davix Egan. “Many of the things John was concerned Greg asworking on.
They agreeds that the best thing for the firm was to focua on business instead of Reed Smithis Pittsburgh’s second-largest law firm and eighth-largestg private company, During Jordan’s tenure, Reed Smith grew from a regionall firm with 500 lawyers in nine officess to an international powerhouse with 1,683w lawyers in 23 offices. It had 2008 revenue of $980 million. Like many internationak law firms, Reed Smith has been affectecd bythe recession, cutting support staff and 26 associated over the past across the U.S. by 10 effective in July.

Figures of joy - Reading Eagle

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Figures of joy Reading Eagle They are tiny gift collectibles, unglazed porcelain and bisque baby figures evoking childhood innocence with all sorts of holiday themes and settings. The couple has collected them over the past 20 years - purchased most of them, but also received some ... and more »

OSU recognizes alumni - Portland Business Journal:

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Cheryl Dorman, West Coast Bank vice presidentand Tualatin-Sherwood brancnh manager received the Tualatin Chamberd of Commerce Volunteer of the Year The Oregon Tourism Commission announced several 2008 Tourism and Hospitalithy Industry Achievement Awards. The Governor’s Tourismk Award was presented to Bonnis Lippitt for her contributions throughoutthe state, Oregon Birding Trails, Oregon Scenic Oregon Scenic Byways, Central Cascades Geotourism Initiatives (with National Geographic) and Sustainable Tourism Advisoryg Committee. The 2008 Tourismn and Hospitality Industry Achievement Awards were announced inthesr categories: The Gene Leo Memorial Awarde was presented to Mt.
Ashland Ski Area for its Youtg SummerService Program, which provides teens an opportunityt to learn about the mountaim environment through hands-on projects and coordinated field The Creative Tourism Development Awarrd was given to Travel Salem and Corvallisx Tourism. The Volunteer Achievement Award was presented to Davidd and Shirley Bridgham for their leadership managinythe “Holiday Lights” volunteers at Shore Acres. The Partnershiop Award was presented toCoos Bay-North Bend-Charlestom Olympic Trials Partnership, which secured premium booth placement at Eugene 08 and promoted the area by highlightin g its connection to Steve Prefontaine.
The Sustainabld Tourism Award was presented to Full SailBrewingf Co. for its commitment to The Heritage Tourism Award was given to Missiohn Hill Museumfor “Facing Statehood,” a sesquicentennial exhibition that reflects on the years leading up to Oregon’s admission to the Unionh as the 33rd state. Outside In in Portland electesd Darci Swindells to the boardof

Whertec to bring 81 jobs to Jacksonville - Jacksonville Business Journal:

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The company is already based in Orange but it also has facilitiesin Ill.; Mendota, Calif.; Oilville, Va.; Ontario, Canada; and Britisnh Columbia, Canada. It’s Dothan, Ala., warehous will relocate to 240Hammonds Blvd. in Jacksonville. “A lot of the workerxs in Alabama don’t know yet,” said Pete the CEO of Whertec. “We have to verifh that we are movinghere first.” The Jacksonville Economi Development Commission approved Whertec’s relocation to the Westside at its meeting Thursday morninf because of the employment opportunities it will brinvg to the area. The jobs that come along with the move pay an averageeof $45,000.
The land is also an upgradse from the facilities in Castiglione said at theJEDC “One of the perks of movinyg here is the additional size and spacew we need,” he said. Whertec plans to invest up to $4.1 millionh to acquire and renovatethe 32,000-square-foot building and to purchase additional machinery and equipment as part of a three-phasr project. The employer is requestingt financial assistance through the State of Florida Qualified Targeted Industry Tax Refund Program of upto $3,000 per job for a totao of not to exceed $243,000. Founded in Whertec is a metal heat treating fabricato rof plates, thermal coatings for tanks and pressurized vessels.
The compan y currently employs75 people, nine of which are in Orang e Park, but it plans to hire the 81 additionalo employees within 48 montha of the move to

Wind River Systems helps animate Android - Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal:

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Over the last 18 months, the Alamedas device software maker has assigned nearly 200 engineerss to its effort to spreadthe -backe Android operating systems to mobile computing devicew around the world. The huge investment reflects Wind River’se strategic decision to focus heavilyon consumer-orientedx open source mobile software in addition to its core businessesx selling operating systems for aerospace and defense contractors, telecommunications and industrial customers. Many industryh analysts believe Android is goin g to be one ofthe world’d top mobile computing platforms for handsetds and netbooks — an area in which it presentd a direct threat to .
“Wde were in with Google very, very, very said Wind River’s Chief Marketing Officer John Bruggeman withevidentf pride. “It’s important, because it is the basis of our Growing revenue, headcount Wind River has been in the devicee software industry for more than 26 years and its productd are in more than 300 million devices ranginh from cellphones to television set-top boxes to jets and the Mars But four years ago, Wind River transformerd itself by embracing Linusx and focusing on selling open source consumer devicd operating systems. Since then, telecommunications and consumef devices have grown to represeng more than halfthe firm’s revenue.
Its meanwhile, has grown from abouf 1,200 in early 2007 to 1,672 today. And its interest in Android goes back to the startr of theoperating system: Wind Riverd was among nearly 50 led by Google, that developed it, Bruggeman said. Wind River hope s to profit off Android by packaging the open sourc e software for commercial use by phone operators and handset manufacturerw and servicing licensed customers with updatesand patches. Bruggeman said the compan currently has approximately 10 Android deal withhandset manufacturers, mobile operatore and other companies interested in Android.
Android has stayed largelh below the radarsince Google, to much fanfare, releasedc its first software development kit last So far, only two Android-based phonesx are for sale. Analysts, however, say suppory among telephone carriers and other mobil eindustry players, notably of San Diego, is and Android based devices will start proliferatingt by the end of the year, including phones from , and . Googlr is not making money off which isa free, open source mobile The search giant says it has backec Android because it hopes to generatwe traffic for Google-brokered ads by improving web Google CEO Eric Schmidt this week said in a quarterly earnings call that “it looks like Android is going to have a very strong year.
” “There are announcements happenint between now and the end of the year that are quitew significant from operators and new hardware partners in the Android which I won’t pre-announce except to say that they reallty do fulfill much of the visiom that we laid out more than a year Schmidt said. “On the netbook side, therr are a number of people who have actually takem Android and ported it over to netbookor netbook-similar Earier this month, research firm Strateghy Analytics said it expects to see Android take 12 percengt of global smartphone shipmenyt market share by 2012, as well as show growtbh in other device segments.
Bonny Joy, a senior analyst with the Massachussetts-based said support for Androidx among handset makersis “very strong.” “Wr all are very bullish on the outlook of and Android certainly will benefit from the Joy said. Wind River, he has placed the biggest bet on Androird of any devicesoftwarre maker. Rob Enderle, an analyst with the in San Jose, said he expectes Android to be popular onnetbooks — strippeds down computers with Internet functionality — as well as “It’s going to be huge.
It’s a very disruptive play on the market,” Enderle A lot of equipment manufacturers, includinh , are testing Android in stealthb mode, said Enderle. “All the feedback from OEMs (origina l equipment manufacturers) is they like what they are he said. London-based Telecomsz & Media released a report last monthu forecasting that sales of Android smartphonesx will surpass iPhonesby 2012. Overallk handset sales will fall 10.1 percent this year, but sales of smartphone s willgrow 35.3 percent. In there were almost 162 millionsmartphones sold, surpassinh notebook sales for the first time.
Just over 49 percengt of smartphones sold in 2008 were basedon ’s operatinh system, which is used by , a significant drop from a near 65 percenr share it enjoyed one year earlier. Symbiab recently went open source, and the Informa report suggested that the move will help Nokias retain the top spotthrough 2013.

Markets close lower Wednesday; U.S. Steel up 6% - Business First of Columbus:

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Among a cross-section of companies operating in CB Richard EllisGroup Inc. registered the biggest percentage rising 13.76 percent to Pittsburgh-based U.S. Steel Corp. passed the $40 U.S. Steel (NYSE:X) shot up 6.16 percenr to $40.15 per share. Alcoa Inc. up 3.05 percent to $11.49 Allegheny Energgy Inc. (NYSE:AYE), down 0.15 percent to $25.98 Alleghen y Technologies Inc. (NYSE:ATI), up 0.69 percen to $42.26 American Eagle Outfitters Inc. up 0.75 percent to $14.7q Bank of New York Mello Corp. (NYSE:BK) down 1.22 percent to $28.4 CONSOL Energy Inc. (NYSE:CNX), down 0.95 percent to $41.521 Dick’s Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS), down 2.21 percenr to $18.57 Federated Investors Inc.
(NYSE:FII), down 0.42 perceny to $26.01 First Niagara Financial Grou Inc. (NYSE:FNFG), down 1.43 percent to $11.77 H.J.Heinz Co. (NYSE:HNZ), down 0.75 percengt to $35.96 Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) up 1.51 percentt to $20.89 Koppers Holdings Inc. down 0.80 percent to $28.35 Mylaj Inc. (Nasdaq:MYL), down 1.99 perceng to $13.28 PNC Financial Services Group Inc. (NYSE:PNC), down 5.41 percent to $41.70 PPG Industries Inc. (NYSE:PPG), down 0.64 percent to $45.22 WABTEC Corp. (NYSE:WAB), up 3.89 percent to $35.8w WESCO International Inc. (NYSE:WCC), down 0.40 percenyt to $27.
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Advanta agrees to refund customers up to $35M in FDIC agreements - Boston Business Journal:

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That agreement addresses charges that theSpring House, Pa.-based company violated federal trade laws througgh its pricing strategies on businesa credit cards, and in its marketing of cash-bacok rewards on the cards. Advanta said it did not admitt wrongdoing and that it entered theagreementsx “in the interest of expediency and to avoie litigation.” Advanta said it took a $14 millio charge to cover refunds tied to the alleger marketing violations in third-quarter 2008 and will take a second-quartetr 2009 charge to cover refunds over its pricing which it said coule total $21 million. Advanta also agreef to a $150,000 fine.
In a separate agreement with the Advanta’s ability to use cash and pay dividendsz hasbeen restricted. The company must submit a plan toremaih "well-capitalized," and submit a plan to terminates its deposit-taking operations and deposit insurancee once its deposits are repaid in full, a processd expected to take a few The second agreement with the FDIC places restrictionsz on Advanta’s use of its cash assets, payment of dividends and transactiona that would materially alter its balance sheey composition and taking of brokered Advanta said the second order does not in any way restrict it from continuing to service its managed credit-care accounts and receivables.
In an effort to limit losses and erosion of its capitakl ascredit deteriorates, Advanta said in early May that its securitizatiom trust will go into early amortization where the company uses receivables from customerse to accelerate payment to investor bondholders. Whilew that protects investors from prolongerd exposure to a pool of receivables whose creditg performancehas deteriorated, Advantaz would have needed an alternatived way to fund new purchases on its credit cards. So it had to shut down future use, effectivde May 30. It has since referred some customers to AmericanjExpress Co. Advanta’s stock closed 2 7 percent lower Wednesday at42 cents.

D.C-area SBA lending rebounds in April - Washington Business Journal:

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There were 41 SBA loans made to Washington-aresa businesses in April — 58 percent more than the averagde number of loans during the previouwthree months. Lenders chalk the improvement up to the Marcjh 16 moves by the SBA to eliminat e feeson 7(a) and 504 loans and to increase the maximu government guarantee to 90 percent from 85 The changes were part of the federal stimuluss package and led to an immediate nationwidee bump in SBA lending.
Additional measures — including initiativesa aimed at unsticking the secondary markegt for SBA loans and a programm of temporary bridge loand to help struggling companies make paymentwson non-SBA loans — are expected to be implemented in (See story on Page 9.) “The fee reduction, in has caused small businessed to step up that might otherwised not have bought buildings in this economy,” said Sallyy Robertson, president of Fairfax-based Business Finance Group Inc., the larges t local SBA lender. One of thosew businesses was CorkWine Bar, which on May 20 closerd on a loan of more than $1 million from Businese Finance Group to buy a nearby building for expansion.
When Cork heardd about the fee waiver for SBA the company sped up itsexpansiohn plans, to make sure it coulx take advantage of the waiver, said Khali Pitts, co-owner. He and co-ownerr Diane Gross approached for a loan but were told not tobother applying, he said. They then went to Bethesda-basec EagleBank, which referred them to Business Financse Group and its SBA 504 which fund real estatde orequipment purchases. When the recession set in last year, demane for 504 loans tanked as small business grew wary of makingvlarge investments. Cork is an example of how, to some that mindset is Robertson said. “Business owners are finalluy seeing thatmaybe we’ve hit the she said.
“Real estate pricex are good. Combine that with a low interest rate and low fees and it now make s a lot of sense for businessedto invest.” In April, Business Finance Groupp got nine loans approvedx through the SBA, up from three to five loan during the previous several months. The companh is on pace to get at least 14 loans approve din May. But Robertson hesitates to call thisa “I tend to be a glass three-quarters-full person,” she said. “But we are definitely seeing signs that thingaare improving.” Robertson and other local lenders, however, believde there is still a ways to go before lending reache “normal” levels.
The number of SBA loans made to Washington-area companies plummeted 44 percent during the fiscal year that endecdin September. So far, this fiscalo year is down an additional61 percent. And despitr last month’s gains, the number of loan s still was 64 percent belowApril 2007. A December studgy by the found that economic uncertainty was atan all-timre high and a third of smallk businesses couldn’t obtain adequate financing to run their The NSBA has not done any follow-ulp surveys yet, but “the outlook is probably less dismal than it said Molly Brogan, spokeswoman for the “The SBA numbers are a glimmefr of hope in the minds of small businesses.
But therew is still some [bad news] out therre that’s probably preventing a broad upsurgerin optimism.” That also is the view of Dan group president of the Washington region for the region’s largest lender of SBA 7(a) guaranteed which fund startups, acquisitions and working capital. Whild BB&T has seen increased SBA loan volume the past couplof months, small businesses are still being very he said. “They’re doing mission-critical things. I don’t think anybody’s overluy optimistic and willing to step out there and take abig gamble,” Waetjen said. “They’ve probably learnedx that’s not a good thing to do.
” the largest locally based bankSBA lender, also has seen a bump in SBA said CEO Ron “It’s hopefully an indicator that the programse the government is puttinv into place are working,” he said. EagleBank sella a lot of its SBA loans into thesecondar market, which pretty much collapsed last In June, the SBA plans to begibn making loans to broker-dealers who purchase 7(a) loanxs from lenders and pool them into securities. The SBA also will guaranteer poolsof first-lien 504 loans sold on the secondargy market.

Missouri jobless rate resumes climb in May - Houston Business Journal:

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The state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased to 9 percentyin May, up from 8.1 percent in April’s 0.6 point decrease in unemployment now appears with the May increaser part of an upward trend datingf back to mid-2008, state officials said. Approximatelty 272,000 Missourians were estimatedf to have been jobless durin the monthof May. Nonfarm payrolo employment decreasedby 3,700 jobs in May, marking the smallesgt monthly decrease since employment began to drop sharply last Job losses were concentrated in manufacturing (-3,700) and constructio (-1,600), which were partly offset by gainss in health care and sociapl assistance (2,000) and local government (900).
Over the past employment droppedby 74,300 or 2.7 percent. The main exceptions to the downwars trend over the year have been privatre educationalservices (2,500), healtg care and social assistance (6,000), federal government (2,700) and local government (3,300). The nationap unemployment rate in Maywas 9.4 percent. Nonfarm payroll employment in May was downin St. Louis by led by automobile industry layoffs and a cutback of federal employeexs following the end ofsome pre-2010 Censues activities.

Choose the best gift you'll receive this Christmas - Abbotsford Times

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Choose the best gift you'll receive this Christmas Abbotsford Times Gifts, gifts, gifts. What to get and what to expect. It is that time of year when we are bombarded by expectation, commitments and traditions. As a Christian, it is hard not to feel a bit ... and more »

City going with the funding flow for capital projects - Baltimore Business Journal:

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It called for $3 millionm of work on streets that crisscross downtownn from Broad Street north to Nationwide includingbusy east-west thoroughfares such as Spring and Long streets. But the plan was shelveds in mid-June when city officials cut this year’s capital improvements budget to the Citing a decline in revenue fromthe city’sw income tax due to recession-related layoffs and wage cuts for workerws in Columbus, City Council pared income tax-backed spendinv on capital projects across the including ones in the to $24.1 million this year.
That was about 10 percentr of what city officials had anticipatefd would be available this year before the bottok began falling out of the economyh in the fourth quarterof 2008. Council’sw action means there will be almost no new projects financedr by the quarter of all income tax revenue set asidw to pay off bond debt on projects such as stree andbridge improvements, sidewalks, bikeways and purchasesx of fire vehicles and trash “It’s just symptomatic of our entire budget,” said who wonders if his department will have enougjh money to patch potholes next year let alone take on a streetf resurfacing program like the one he said is needec downtown.
He and others in Mayor Michael Coleman’sa administration, along with City Council members, are trying to addresd the problem by convincing voters to approveraisiny Columbus’ 2 percent income tax to 2.5 percentt during a special election Aug. 4. If the tax hike could put the city in a positiojn to haveabout $200 million a year in income-tax backer funding to spend on capital said Columbus Finance Director Joel Taylor.
This year, however, projectxs that are part of Coleman’s long-runningv effort to revitalize downtown Columbus will have to county on a mix of federal includingstimulus dollars, carryover funds from past capita budgets and revenue from water, sewer and electric utilith user fees. An exception is the Sciotpo Mile riverfrontpark project, whicnh will receive $3.5 million from the income tax-supportecd fund this year and another $1.5 in carryove r capital budget funding.
Taylor said that will coved the rest ofthe city’s $10 million commitment to Scioto Mile, fulfilling its obligationn to a project that also is receiviny $20 million from the private sector and $13 millionj from Franklin County, state and federal Federal stimulus money will providee $5.5 million to help the city completer the conversion of Frony Street to two-way traffic and resurface the Taylor said. It runs through the RiverSouthu District next to the refurbished Lazarus buildinhg and the site where Lifestyle Communities is finishingg construction of condominium andapartment units.
Another $25 millionj in federal stimulus money will help the city meet its commitmenty to rebuild the intersection at Parsons and Livingstom avenues nextto . The road work at what the Coleman administration considers the southeast gatewayu to downtown will complementan $842 million expansion undert way at the hospital. Taylor said $2 million in federalo stimulus money will be used for construction of the new RichStreet bridge, which will connect downtown and Franklinton. This year’sw capital budget also includesanother $27.9 million in statde and federal funds, plus $1.7 million from the city’es 2004 bond package, for the $33.8 million bridge project.
Columbus also has been awarded $7.4 milliob in federal stimulus fundingfor energy-related some of which are downtown. Taylofr said they include $1.1 million for energy improvements at Columbuspolice $500,000 for bicycle infrastructure work and $200,000 for energty enhancements at the Columbus Cultural Arts Center. In the capital budget calls for morethan $16 milliom in water and sewer improvement s downtown and nearly $1.3 million in electric utility work along Front Streetr and the area arounx the Franklin County courthouse complex off South High and Fultonn streets.
Water, sewer and electric project financed by user fees will accounr for about 80 percent ofthis year’ds $457 million capital spending budget, said Columbue Auditor Hugh Dorrian. Columbus has a decades-long practicre of financing other capital projects by settin aside a quarter of the revenue collected from the income tax to pay offbond Traditionally, income tax revenue has increasedr 4 percent to 6 percent annually, a boost that woulc have provided about $200 million for capital projecta this year, Dorrian said. However, city officiala are estimating 2009 tax collections will be aboutt 5 percent lowerthan 2008, so capitap spending has to be curtailed.
That also meanxs the funding picture is unclearfor $588 million of income-tas supported projects in a $1.67 billion bond package approvex by Columbus voters in November. Coleman had originallty billed that project wish listas Columbus’ bicentennial bond package in conjunction with the city’s 200th birthday celebration in 2012. But with the economuy and cityfinances tanking, Coleman dropped the tag just before he, Dorrian and City Councikl introduced a scaled-back bond issu project list to voterws last June.
Coleman’s critics have said part of the current funding shortage for capitalo projects is due to the Democratic mayor and councikl having overspent on downtownnrevitalization projects. “The grand majorith of the money has been spent downtown even thougyh we still have areas of the citythat don’ty have streetlights,” said Matt Ferris, principaol of in Columbus and a Republican candidate for City “I’m all for fixing up downtowbn and making capital improvements, but city hall needs to realized Columbus is more than just the Critics of city spending on downtown projects are missiny the point about the area’s importance to said Cleve Ricksecker, executive director of the Capital Crossroads Speciapl Improvement District, a private organization focused on downtown He said downtown accounts for less than 1 percent of the city’s land mass but generates 15 percent of its property tax revenu and about 25 percent of income tax &ldquo ;To keep the flow of tax dollars to the neighborhoods,” he said, “we’vse got to keep the downtowmn healthy.
Everyone has a financial stake inthe downtown.” The Colemaj administration has been able to leverage the city’s capital improvement budget to land state, federal and private-secto r funding for downtown projects, said Mike the city’s urban venturew coordinator. “People hear the he said, “and think it’ds all from the city (budget). But we’re drawing down federak dollars as well asstate funds. That’s a win for the city.” Brown also said the city spendsz four to five times more on capital projectsz in neighborhoods than it doesdowntownj – even though 22 percent of work force is downtown.
“We have to keep downtowm happyand healthy,” he said, “so it doesn’f decline like downtowns in otherr cities in the country.”

BofA raises $26B for fed buffer - Charlotte Business Journal:

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billion in new capital that federal regulators say thebank needs. Last BofA sold $13.5 billion in common stock. The Charlotte-baseds bank issued 1.25 billion shares at an averags priceof $10.77 per share. Also this BofA sold a 5.7 percent stakd in China Construction Bank to Asian investors. BofA realized a gain of $4.5 billiohn from the deal. Those initiatives benefites Tier 1 common capitalby $1.8 billiohn by reducing a deferred tax asset deduction. In addition, BofA has agreed to exchange $5.9 billiom in preferred shares held by nongovernmental entities for 436 milliomn shares ofcommon stock.
The company says it could issu up to an additional 564 million common shares in asimilar exchange. The company (NYSE:BAC) reiteratex that it could raise more funds by sellingg assets such as First Republic aSan Francisco-based and entering into joint ventures. Early this month, the federao government told BofA it needed toraises $33.9 billion in additional capitalo after the Federal Reserve conductes its “stress tests” on the 19 largesgt U.S. banks.
The government’s officially called the Supervisory CapitaklAssessment Program, were designed to assesws the banks’ ability to survive if economic conditionws worsen more than expected during the next two “We are quite pleased with the capital-raisingf effort and the progress toward completing the asset salea and establishment of the joint ventures,” says Joe BofA chief financial officer.
“The company hopes to use the majoritg of the proceeds from these initiatives to reduce reliance on government support forthe

Area home sales post big drop in May - Pittsburgh Business Times:

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There were 1,783 home closings last a 29 percent decrease fromMay 2008, according to the Greaterd Nashville Association of Realtors. The median price of single-family homea in May was a $5,400 increase from the prior buta 10.6 percent decline from May 2008. “Real estat is feeling the same effects as the rest of the national economy,” Greater Nashville Association of Realtors President Mike Nichols says in a pressd release. “With the recent American Recoveryh and Reinvestment Act of 2009 supportee bythe FHA, we are hopeful that first-timr home buyers will take advantage of the opportunity to use the $8,00p0 tax credit to help with certain costas at closing.
” Inventory on the market increase abougt 0.8 percent from April. There were 24,60o homes on the market May 31. May’d numbers brings year-to-date closings up to down 31 percent fromthe 10,4067 closings at this point in 2008. The condko market had 228 closingsin May, a 25.2 percentf drop from the year That compares to 305 closings last The median price for a condo in May was down 1.7 percent from last There were 2,000 sales pending at the end of May.
Whiles that number was down from 2,489 pending salesa last year, it was only the secondc time since last September that pending sales figuree hadreached 2,000 properties or