Well, we've followed up a couple of 'old style' winters (co-o-old, snowy) with an old style summer - really hot and humid. My flowers are being watered and tended to a bit more than usual, with decent results. The tomatoes are just loving this weather, though.
On the Real Estate front, there's still a good amount of buyer activity, even though the federal tax credit for buyers is pretty much over. Sellers are being realistic about prices (in general) and know that properties are selling at a lower price.
Mortgage rates are very attractive but lending criteria has tightened to make things a bit more challenging. There's still an acceptable amount of inventory available (8 month supply of homes), but not as much as there was a year ago. Those of us that work a fair amount of foreclosures are hearing from banks that they expect a release of inventory at any time - but we've been hearing that for quite a while now.
Property values are still dropping nominally but that alone is an improvement. If you're a buyer, this is still a great time to make it happen. Sellers - I don't expect to see any big upward movement in prices for at least 3-5 years, so if you need to move, do it now while lending is attractive for the buyers and while you can make a good deal on the buying end of your move.
There are more commercial vacancies, just look at any strip mall as you're driving by. There's very little new commercial construction, except for prime locations with pre-lease agreements.
