Print Article

RISMEDIA, May 27, 2009-The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had improved considerably in April, posted another large gain in May. The Index now stands at 54.9 (1985=100), up from 40.8 in April. The Present Situation Index increased to 28.9 from 25.5 last month. The Expectations Index rose to 72.3 from 51.0 in April. The Consumer Confidence Survey is based on a representative sample of 5,000 U.S. households. The monthly survey is conducted for The Conference Board by TNS- one of the world’s largest custom research companies. The cutoff date for May’s preliminary results was May 19th.

Says Lynn Franco, Director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center stated: “After two months of significant improvements, the Consumer Confidence Index is now at its highest level in eight months (Sept. 2008, 61.4).

Continued gains in the Present Situation Index indicate that current conditions have moderately improved, and growth in the second quarter is likely to be less negative than in the first. Looking ahead, consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year, and expectations are that business conditions, the labor market and incomes will improve in the coming months. While confidence is still weak by historical standards, as far as consumers are concerned, the worst is now behind us.”

Consumers’ overall assessment of current-day conditions improved again. Those claiming business conditions are “good” increased to 8.7% from 7.9%. However, those claiming conditions are “bad” increased to 45.3% from 44.9%. Consumers’ appraisal of the job market was also more favorable. Those claiming jobs are “hard to get” decreased to 44.7% from 46.6% in April, and those saying jobs are “plentiful” edged up to 5.7% from 4.9%.

Consumers’ short-term outlook improved significantly in May. Those expecting business conditions will improve over the next six months increased to 23.1% from 15.7%, while those anticipating conditions will worsen declined to 17.8% from 24.4% in April.

The employment outlook was also less pessimistic. The percentage of consumers expecting more jobs in the months ahead increased to 20.0% from 14.2%, while those anticipating fewer jobs decreased to 25.2% from 32.5%. The proportion of consumers anticipating an increase in their incomes edged up to 10.2% from 8.3%.

Top 5 Home Staging Trends to Help You Compete in Today’s Market

RISMEDIA, May 13, 2009-Staging your home before listing it on the market is a crucial step that many homeowners often overlook. While the competition continues to be fierce in today’s market, homeowners must take the necessary steps in order to make their home stand out from the others. The International Association of Home Staging Professionals (IAHSPR) offers 5 home staging tips to help you compete in today’s market:

1. Home staging is not just for houses for sale. Home staging continues to cross over into many service areas that have nothing to do with selling a house. Traditional home staging involves working with sellers to prepare houses for sale, but today’s successful Accredited Staging Professionals have a multi-faceted business that allows them to serve clients with staging to live, help organize offices with staging to work, and provide event staging for a myriad of events from parties to large corporate parties. Home stagers also provide staging to live services for those remaining in their homes to help them refresh their interiors with simple solutions. Since much of what a home stager provides is the vision and organizational skills and ability to carry out that vision to fruition, their talents are being demanded by many parallel industries.

2. Home staging helps foreclosure, REO and short sale properties sell. With the increase of foreclosure, REO, and short sale properties in many markets throughout the United States, the need for presentation of these properties as a product that can sell is imperative. As professional home stagers continue to develop relationships with banks and investors, the services they offer of being able to visually package and market a property will continue to gain value. Banks and Investors need to invest money up front to stage and sell a house versus letting it languish on the market and lose tens of thousands of dollars per property.

3. Home staging becomes greener. In The International Association of Home Staging Professionals we see a trend towards eco-friendly home staging continuing as a viable market niche. Home stagers have specific inventory they can provide that is “green” to help a seller, builder or investor that wants to put their “green” foot forward and achieve their goal of marketing a product that truly has the environment at heart. There are even inventory lines devoted to providing a truly eco-friendly product created from recycled materials that any individual, builder or organization that states they are truly ecologically conscious should be focused on including with any home staging services they receive.

4. Home staging captivates mainstream media. There are currently no less than eight shows on HGTV devoted to the process of preparing a house for sale, and this trend will continue as long as the public finds value in learning what to do both inside and outside their home when getting ready to put it on the market. The key is that although many of the shows provide entertainment quality, what they miss is the ability for a viewer to truly be objective in their own house. Home stagers that can independently assess a house’s strength’s and weaknesses, and provide a concise and effective plan of action, will continue to be in demand.

5. Education and professional associations will become more important for screening qualified home stagers. With the influx of many people providing home staging services, we see a need for qualification of skills and education in order to weed out those that have not set up their businesses with professional standards.

The latest U.S. Census Bureau data shows a decrease in the total number of moves, down from 13.2% in 2007 to 11.9% in 2008, the lowest rate since 1948. Of those moving consumers, the new Relocation.com data shows that the financial crisis has had a definite impact, with 60% more consumers now listing financial reasons as the primary reason for moving compared to last year; 41% of respondents indicated that the recession and housing crisis had a strong influence on their decision to move. Three percent of the consumers who took the survey indicated that they lost their home through foreclosure, while 13% reported that they lost their job.

The number of people who said they moved for family reasons has also risen from 18% in the 2008 survey to 28% in 2009. The numbers could reflect people moving in with family members to cut costs, a desire to be close to family members or other reasons.

“Even though a smaller total number are relocating, consumers are still on the move for jobs, better housing or family reasons,” said Sharon (Ron) Asher, chairman and founder, Relocation.com. “We are seeing more out-of-state moves from traditionally popular destinations, likely because of high foreclosure rates and diminished property values.”

A small percentage of movers were making moves for the better with five percent of those surveyed moving to a bigger, better house, while eight percent were looking for a better neighborhood to improve their lifestyle.