While personal consumer expenditures were steady through January, retail sales in February grew 1.1 percent. While not exactly robust growth, retail sales are more than 6 percent higher than a year ago. On the housing front, I expect to see stabilization and maybe some slight improvement in 2012.
We entered the Great Recession over-invested in residential real estate, and we are not likely to see a strong housing recovery until the surplus inventory of foreclosed and distressed properties declines. Even as the economy rebalances, housing and related sectors are not likely to return to those pre-recession highs, nor should we expect them to do so.