Today the Federal Reserve, along with several international banks, announced a half point rate cut in the banks’ lending rate. As a result the Stock Market finally started a turnaround, which today was 150 points higher than yesterday’s close. After losing almost 1,000 points since the $700 billion ‘bailout’ was announced, indicators are that investors are coming back into the market to pick up bargains after the ‘free fall’ of the past 10 days. No one has yet said that we are out of the woods, but we all know there is a bottom to every downturn, and it is possible that when new money comes into the market and ‘bottom feeders’ start their search for bargains, the support level forms up.

We look for bottoms in any market, and certainly the Stock Market uptick looks like investors are starting to recognize the opportunity to invest again. Another good sign was the announcement by the National Association of Realtors that existing home contracts had risen 7.8% since a year ago last August. The index then was 85.8 and had dropped as low as 84 in March of 2008, but is now up to 93.4 in August this year. This unexpected announcement was received with positive responses today, and hopefully is a sign that many of the distressed housing markets in states like California, Nevada, and Florida were seeing a bottom to their markets.

On a local basis, the Vail Daily reported last month that Eagle County has not seen an increase in foreclosures from the past year, as has been the case in other states. For that matter, even Summit County has actually seen a decrease from last year to this. In Eagle County, there were 112 foreclosures filed this year compared to a total of 140 in all of 2007, and 197 in 2006. Of that number 60% are timeshares because of the high pressure tactics used by their salespeople. In a resort area such as the Vail Valley, we are lucky to see the support for homes where scarcity still supports higher prices. Professionals at Gateway are always on the lookout for properties that come under pressure to be sold, and when you contact us, we are ready to help find the perfect purchase in a confusing market.

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