Positive Signs

As the recession starts to recede (not fast enough!) Charlotte continues to enjoy announcements of companies relocating, or expanding jobs in this market. The exciting thing is that not all of them are in the financial industry.
Last fall we learned of Husqvarna, Seimens, and Ally Bank. This spring we learned about Freightliner, Red Cross, Jo-Mar Spinning, Citco Funds, Morgan Stanley, USBank, Babcocks & Wilcox.
Several contacts I have in City of Charlotte Economic Development have hinted that there are others in the pipeline as we move forward.
Wells Fargo’s community banking president for the eastern region, Laura Schulte, has indicated that the overlap of duplicate jobs is done, and that there are actually people in San Francisco who are eager to move to Charlotte from the West Coast! Who would have thought that!
These are all positive signs that Charlotte will emerge from this recession stronger, as our core businesses are again expanding and we are diversifying our employment base to help avoid future dependence on a single industry.
Additional expansion is taking place with the UNCC Uptown Classroom Building, continued growth of Johnson & Wales University, and discussions about Johnson C. Smith creating a High School on its campus.
All these indicators will bring additional people to this area. These people will need a place to live, and I have already seen buyers are returning to the markets. Property values will begin to rise as the financially challenged properties are removed from the market.
As the supply of available housing decreases, and the demand of people moving to this area increases the only course is for property values to go up