If you’ve never really cared about cars, now is the time to care. Especially if you live in Michigan. Our state depends up us caring.
I have to tell you, I don’t follow the automotive industry as carefully as I should. Yet I live in an area that is seemingly dependent on almost only this industry. What have we done to ourselves? My livelihood is directly tied to the success of the automotive industry. If people don’t have jobs, they can’t afford to buy homes. If they fear the security of their job, they stay where they are even if they’ve outgrown their starter home and
Owners fret over property values
There’s good reason for concern. Sales of existing single-family houses were down 14.35% in Michigan through September of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to the Michigan Association of Realtors. That drop makes 2006 the worst year since at least the 1980s.Prices are down 1.6% statewide so far this year, but in some markets, such as northern Oakland and Macomb counties, sale prices on existing houses have dropped closer to 10%, the association said.
Prices are down 1.6% statewide so far this year, but in some markets, such as northern Oakland and Macomb counties, sale prices on existing
houses have dropped closer to 10%, the association said.
That said, HOMES ARE SELLING. We listed a home last week and had it under contract in less than 7 days.
But the issues facing the auto industry like high pension costs, high medical costs, and high labor costs, have ramifications on everyone in this state. Buying the cheapest pickles at Walmart is super until you don’t have a job because Poland can sell pickles less expensively than the American pickle companies.
I never understood the “Buy American” slogan when I was young. Now I do. The ramifications are enormous.
Written by Maureen Francis
SKBK Sotheby's International Realty, 248.430.4450
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
teresa boardman 10.25.06 at 7:33 am
Nice post. I believe in buying American and buying local. i try to buy everything that I can with in a couple miles of my home because it helps local business. Buying an American car is confusing. We own Saturns because my husband works for Saturn. Some American brands are mostly made in other countries. my husband knows which cars are American made but I don’t have a clue.
Maureen Francis 10.25.06 at 7:55 am
Teresa,
Excellent point. I guess right now my concern is that the label somehow belong to one of the Big Three, regardless of where the car is ultimately built. Even the Big Three owns foreign brands and manufactures abroad. I know my request is simplistic. Yet the profits from the sale of a Jaguar (from Great Britain) impact Ford Motor Company, Jaguars owner.