Being in the business of heating & air conditioning for residential applications is challenging when the housing market continues to decline. Today's news won't help the situation. New York was not one of the hardest hit housing markets by far and there was news recently that the Glens Falls job situation was improving, if not stable. But that doesn't change the fact that, if the country continues to decline, then the news will focus on problems and that will hurt the confidence of buyers in any market.
When people turn on the evening news in Glens Falls they see that housing is bad, the markets are bad, BP oil spill, you name it. Even if they are in a good place financially, this weighs on there conscience when it comes to buying a new dish washer or putting in a new furnace. This is bad for local business as a whole. Whether your a local restaurant, corner shop or sheet metal fabricator. Micro-businesses like mine and others suffer from the problems of the masses, even if the town is stable financially and employment is good.
The bottom line is that the countries problems aren't getting any better. I follow the markets on a daily basis and things aren't looking great. Is there progress? Some, but not enough to create more jobs and make people optimistic about the future. Even if people in Glens Falls, Queensbury and Saratoga Springs have solid jobs and aren't as bad off as the rest of the country. That doesn't mean they won't hoard every last penny and find ways to save just as much as someone with less. Which means that local businesses will continue to suffer and so will the housing market, job market etc.. If people can't buy a new dishwasher, they're surely not going to be buying or building a new house.
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