West Palm Beach Real Estate - Inside Track



Tuesday, December 27, 2005

West Palm Beach Real Estate Affected by Low Consumer Confidence

West Palm Beach’s consumer confidence hit a 12-year low in September from which it has yet to show signs of recovering. Low consumer confidence, brought by high gas prices and rising interest rates, is likely to affect the West Palm Beach real estate market negatively, as the squeeze on spending will make large expenditures scant.

“Consumer perceptions of personal finances and buying conditions” are very low. That coupled with rising interest rates is expected to let some of the air out of the West Palm Beach real estate bubble.

Up to now, many locals have been using their West Palm Beach real estate “as an investment strategy,” but experts believe that as interest rates continue to rise, “people are less likely to fund spending with home equity loans.”