About Peoria County, IL

Good or bad, has anyone noticed how much press Peoria, Ill is getting lately?

President Obama was in Peoria to make a speech at a Caterpillar facility. CAT has been in the National News recently with their worldwide layoffs. Jim Owens, CEO of CAT, has been on National TV.

Our recently retired Congressman, Ray LaHood, was appointed to the Obama Cabinet as Secretary of Transportation. Rep. Aaron Schock was elected to replace him. President Bush was in Peoria prior to the election to raise money for Aaron Schock. Rep. Schock continues to make news, he was named by the Huffington Post as the new "Hottie Freshman" in Congress. Maybe it was newsworthy because the media presumes the hotties come from traditionally "cool" areas, like Southern California, not Peoria, Ill?

We also had the new junior Senator from Illinois, Roland Burris, make one of his first public appearances in Peoria, Ill, after he was appointed to the coveted spot formerly held by Barack Obama, by the recently indicted former Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, in Peoria. There were reporters from around the country in Peoria for Senator Burris's two press conferences here.

Our new Governor, Pat Quinn, decided to jump on the Peoria bandwagon and Peoria was one of his first stops for a Press Conference after he was appointed as Governor to replace Rod Blagojevich.

Michael Jordan was here last week "weeping" while watching his son play on the winning team for the State Basketball Tournament. The state basketball finals, March Madness, were at the Civic Center..

Most Peorians did not even know Philip Jose Farmer, the famous science fiction writer, lived in Peoria until he died here a couple of weeks ago.

Unfortunately, Ali al-Marri, the man accused of being an al_Qaida Sleeper Agent, has been in the headlines with his trial in Peoria. He was living in Peoria, Ill, when he was arrested. His trial has been headline news.

Peoria is finally on the radar screen of national media, not because it is a cliche for vaudeville acts several decades ago.

You might be saying to yourself that you own your home and that you do not need to worry about the housing market because you have a 30 year fixed mortgage, stable jobs, can afford the payments, and are not looking to move any time soon.

Well...there is more to it.

There are 4 keys to an economic receovery. First, we have to stabilize home prices. This is why the government is focusing a lot of their efforts on the housing situation. This is the base of the pyramid of recovery. As most people know within a pyramid, the base level is your foundation. If you do not have your foundation stable, the layers on top of it are even more unstable, which is what we are seeing currently.

Second, we have to stabilize the banking system. Think of this as the next layer up in the pyramid of recovery. The government is trying to step in at this level as well to try and stablize the banking industry.

Third, we need to create jobs. This is why you are hearing a lot of news reports on the job situation because the media is trying to state that the fixes being implemented in the housing industry and banking industry are not working as well as we had hoped.

Fourth, we need to stimulate the economy. This is why there is a lot of focus on the stimulus package and what it entails. At this level, the stimulus needs to make the economy thrive. The first three levels are how the economy survives, and the fourth is suppose to focus on making the economy thrive.

So...where is the good news?

Well the 6 states (California, Nevada, Arizona, Minnesota, Virginia, and Florida) that led us into this housing crisis or showed the sharpest declines in prices actually showed an INCREASE in sales in the fourth quarter of 2008. So there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

As we are glued to the media these days to find out what the latest is with the stimulus package, here is the latest that I found out, and my advice is STAY TUNE!!! Things are continuing to change and if you do not stay on top of it you might lose out. I would encourage you to get a CPA or tax advisor this year and next year for filing your taxes in order to ensure you are taking advantage of all the credits and tax breaks. Why next year too? Because I foresee this plan coming out in order to get something going in the economy, but I do not think we are going to have one miracle stimulus package. I think it is going to be more of an ongoing stimulus plan with multiple packages or adjustments that are going to have to be made.

According to RISMedia on February 13th, "Congress is now poised to approve a $789 billion economic recovery plan that includes billions of new dollars to help states pay education and health costs as well as tax breaks for those who buy news cars and homes...

The State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, designed to help pay education expenses, was a $79 billion program in the original House stimulus package. The Senate version cut it to $39 billion; the House-Senate compromise settled on $54 billion. The House's $20 billion school construction fund, eliminated by the Senate, remains out.

Also scaled back are Senate-passed car and home tax breaks, as well as the tax rebates that President Barack Obama championed. This includes an $8,000 tax credit to first-time home buyers."

So here is something to note, we have been talking about $7,500 tax credit, and now it's $8,000. I have also been told that we should sit tight as there might be changes to this tax credit. The changes are unclear but some of the restrictions might be changed to include anyone who bought a house. AGAIN, things are STILL CHANGING so if you are an agent, tell your customers that you will keep them updated. If you are an individual, STAY TUNED - things are changing and nothing is finalized yet.

The Republican party is insisting on some tax cuts being preserved, which I feel is a good thing. We need to make sure this stimulus is sustainable!

We don't want a bandaid. We want a bridge!

Do you wonder what our local housing market condition really is?

The Peoria Area Association of Realtor's President Pat McCarthy was a guest on WMBD. He was asked about the current housing market situation in Peoria. He gave some great satistics on how our market is doing better than most of the other markets around the country that you are seeing on the news media.

Check out:

WMBD Podcast: http://wdl18.streamhoster.com/paarstaff/PodCasts/POD%202%20020409.mp3

PJStar article: http://www.pjstar.com/business/x2060123162/Area-home-sales-down