I've been terribly busy and haven't had time to stay on top of all the market updates, etc. There is a lot of activity in the residential market right now which is a great sign for Utah's economy.

Not unexpectedly, the media is "piling on" stories about how commercial real estate is headed off a cliff. The media can generally be counted on to trumpet the up cycle in the market and then the down cycle in the market. I don't believe they have the intention of making the mania and then the panic worse but they do. Read an article about multifamily in the Wall Street Journal that seemed to suggest the multifamily market was headed off a cliff. There are a few large complexes in New York City that were speculative purchases and they are struggling. I am not surprised. At the end of the article it noted that Fannie Mae defaults have jumped from 0.1% to 0.27%. Obviously that is worth noting and paying attention to but it is still an extremely low default rate and hardly cause for fire sale prices and lenders pulling out of the market. The media is a business and sensational headlines attract dollars--too bad they sometimes do that at the expense of better judgment.

Anyway, glad to read about the credit markets thawing quite a bit.