Mar 26 2008
The Small Statistic Within Consumer Confidence That Didn’t Show Up On The News
Consumer Confidence fell to its lowest point in three years and anybody who watches the evening news can understand why.
Each day, news programs barrage Americans with tales of economic woe and American Opinion is largely shaped by the media.
After enough time, the reporting becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
But, in the Consumer Confidence report, there was a choice piece of data that isn’t getting reported by the news programs and it’s a rather important piece.
Although fewer consumers expect to buy automobiles and appliances over the next six months, those with plans to buy homes is actually higher by 14 percent.
In other words, despite weakening confidence in the economy, an increasing number of Americans are planning to buy homes this season and next.
Consumers may be motivated to buy this year by a number of factors:
- Lower home prices nationwide
- Affordable mortgage rates
- Fear that mortgage products will require larger downpayment
Regardless, the media is choosing to ignore this part of the story. Instead, the news programs are focusing on the negatives – just look at the headlines.
It’s no wonder that confidence is down — bad news is all the American Public tends to hear.
