REal Talk with Adam Perrotta-Monday

As the new year dawns, there is much to suggest that the hangover of 2008 will be sticking around for some time to come. Troubling financial and economic reports continue to haunt the headlines, the housing market remains in the dumps and the credit freeze has yet to thaw to any real degree, despite hundreds of billions of dollars in government intervention. Given the current state of things, one could hardly be labeled a doomsayer for speculating that by the end of this year, we might be longing for the not-THAT-bad-old-days of 2008...

But since it's always healthy to start out a new year with a good dose of optimism, it's worth noting that there are some signs of life out there. While the stock market's jump last week may prove very short-lived, the future development sparked by the recent opening of Phoenix's light rail system will certainly be worth keeping an eye on. Let's just hope builders remember what happened there during the condo boom a few years ago and avoid so much irrational exuberance this time around. 

And in more sunny news from sunny environs, Atlanta's office market overcame a poor fourth quarter to post a positive absorption figure for '08; even if the number is way down from 2007, at least it's on the right side of zero. And someone--we don't know who yet--evidently had enough confidence in the NorCal apartment market to shell out $54 million for a 560-unit property there.

So you see, it's not all bad news out there, if you know where to look. Let's put '08 to bed. And let's hope we don't wind up missing it.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled doom and gloom...