Purveyors of unremittingly woeful economic news seems to be the only ones in heavy demand with some such as the world's most sought after Cassandra, Nouriel Roubini earning as much as $50,000 per attendee for a single session where he presumably dishes out more misery while he rakes in millions. Contrarians, in a positive sense, are hard to come by but perhaps this report in the Wall Street Journal could be the first silver lining in a while.
The Journal quotes the Mortgage Bankers Association weekly survey as showing "applications filed for mortgages to buy homes increased a seasonally adjusted 10.6%". Other positive news, in the report include the fact that "applications to refinance existing mortgages increased 62.6% on a week-to-week basis" and that "applications (for home mortgages) for the week ended Dec. 19 ran 124.6% ahead of the mortgage activity seen during the same week last year". Few would disagree that the housing crisis, whatever the primary reason(s) for its origins is responsible for the overall decline in the economy with its victims including the the hotel industry. So, even a nascent uptick as evidenced by the MBA report is a welcome sign for all including hoteliers.