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According to economists, The Great Recession started in 2007 and ended in 2009, though well over two years later people around the world are still suffering from the aftermath. Believe it or not, the retail sector has reported the best earnings in all of three years for the holiday shopping season just past, yet houses continue to lose value. Now since home prices and retail sales are highly esteemed indicators to economists, the contradictory picture being painted here speak to a weak recovery at best.

Companies are actually awash in record profits, but so far are not hiring. Interest rates are incredibly low but credit lines remain tight. Of course, who gives out hundreds of dollars right now – or, even, take it on – with all the uncertainty? It’s quite a conundrum, and no one wants to be the first to try to break it.

The actual number of homes sold nationally this past November was just twenty-one thousand, the lowest figure ever for a single month. Yet bargains abound – foreclosure sales, short sales, auction sales vie with all the deep discounts being offered throughout the industry, even in traditionally hot property markets such as the New York-New Jesery-Connecticut Tri-State Area.

Not even industry insiders like Isaac Toussie have not seen before, where price declines seem to discourage sales!

The situation is much, much worse in cities such as Cleveland, Minneapolis, and even Dallas, darlings of the 1990s.

No matter what happens, the only way things can get better is if the jobs outlook improves dramatically. But without real estate improving first, setting off a chain reaction of new purchases for major items, where will the jobs come from?

It’s a vicious chicken-or-egg cycle.