Economic Outlook Concerns

On Thursday January 6, 2011 the Star News posted this article regarding the economy.

REALTOR® Tom Gale’s Feedback:

"Personal income growth, which amounted to more than 10 percent in 2004, should be about 3 percent in 2011, according to Hall's data, following no growth in 2010 and a decline in 2009."

Although the article seemed to be written with a gloomy tone, the predictions are still encouraging.  According to Dr. Woody Hall, 2009 personal income growth was negative, 2010 was flat, and 2011 is expected to be positive.  The national economy is like a cruise ship.  It can't turn on a dime, but it is turning in the right direction and, now that it's pointed in the right direction, we just need to be patient about seeing the effects.

Tourism and retirement are two of the things that draw people to our region. People haven't had the money to travel and haven't had the ability to sell their home wherever they are or rebuild their nest egg completely yet, but as the rest of the nation recovers, the Wilmington area will see growth happen.  The good news is that, unlike some economies that are wholly dependent upon one industry, we can take our tourists and retirees from any market, so I expect our recovery to be among the first to bounce back.