Consumer Confidence Soars in December

The Conference Board reports that consumers' confidence in the economy rose to an eight-month high, which could signal an end to the housing downturn.
By: Martin Crutsinger: REALTOR® Magazine Online
Consumer confidence rose to an eight-month high in December, which could signal the worst of the housing downturn is over.

The Conference Board reported Thursday that consumer confidence was at 109.0 in December. That is only slightly below last April’s 109.8, when confidence hit the highest point in four years. The slumping housing market and gas prices have been blamed for its more recent declines.

This rise reassured some analysts that a slowing housing market won’t cause people to stop spending, which could then possibly contribute to an outright recession — similar to the bursting of the stock market bubble in 2000 that helped trigger the 2001 downturn.

But others remain cautious. "Given the seesaw pattern in recent months, it is too soon to tell if this boost in confidence is a genuine signal that better times are ahead," says Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board's consumer research center.