The Real Estate Wonk: What housing has to do with holiday sales - Baltimore homes, apartments, real estate: Buying, selling, renting and housing news from reporter Jamie Smith Hopkins

The Baltimore Sun > Business > Real Estate > The Real Estate Wonk

« Home sales vs. home prices: Fight! Fight! | Main | Hey, don't blame ME! »

November 23, 2007

What housing has to do with holiday sales

I'm in the middle of working on a story for tomorrow's paper about Black Friday shopping, but I wanted to pause for a moment to bring you a thought from retail analyst Jay McIntosh of Ernst & Young.

He predicts mediocre holiday sales this year. I asked why. High gas prices? Pricey heating bills? No savings?

"I think if you had to pick one thing, it's the housing situation," McIntosh said. "The lack of housing starts, the inability to take home equity out ... That would be the single biggest factor."

Posted by Jamie Smith Hopkins at 5:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Post a comment

All comments must be approved by the blog author. Name-calling aimed at other commenters is not welcome here. Please do not resubmit comments if they do not immediately appear. You are not required to use your full name when posting, but you should use a real e-mail address. Comments may be republished in print, but we will not publish your e-mail address. Our full Terms of Service are available here.

Name:

Email Address:

URL:

Remember personal info?

Comments:

Verification (needed to reduce spam):

About Jamie Smith Hopkins

Jamie Smith Hopkins, a Baltimore Sun reporter since 1999, writes about the regional economy. Her reporting on the housing market has won national and local awards. Hopkins is a Columbia native and has lived in Maryland all her life, save for 10 months spent covering schools in Ames, Iowa.
She trained to become a wonk by spending large chunks of time as a geek and an insufferable know-it-all.
• Baltimore Sun articles by Jamie

Follow @realestatewonk on Twitter