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Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Slowdown hitting in unexpected places
You’ve heard plenty about the far-reaching effects of the housing slowdown. One naysayer, Chris McCarty, director of the University of Florida’s consumer confidence index, weighs in today (for the report, click on October 2006) with a pessimistic outlook for the usual suspects, namely construction jobs and consumer spending.
But the housing slowdown is hitting in some unexpected places, too — like RailAmerica’s third-quarter profits.
The Boca Raton-based railroad operator said third-quarter profits dipped to $7 million from $7.5 million a year ago.
Among the culprits, according to RailAmerica’s CEO: “The slowdown in the housing market, which resulted in a 12 percent decline in our lumber carloads compared to the third quarter of 2005.”
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In auctions, sometimes ‘consumers take the hit’
Yesterday’s story about a failed auction prompted a call from long-time auctioneer Lynn Gardner, who echoes the “amateur hour” criticism — but in more diplomatic terms.
“A lot of auctioneers are out there doing their own thing,” Gardner says. “Consumers take the hit for it, frankly.”
Gardner owns Homeland Auctions and runs auctions for Long & Foster, the big Washington, D.C.- area broker, and she’s coming to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches next month to teach a daylong certification class for auctioneers.
Gardner says sellers are turning to auctions at precisely the wrong time. Last year’s frenzied sellers market was an ideal time to hold an auction, she says, but today’s tepid climate yields little interest from buyers.
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