Why consumer confidence is key to recovery

I don't know what was more exasperating: the number of commercials during recent sporting events telecasts or the fact that most of the paid interruptions were approved by political candidates. Can the pace possibly slow before November? What we know for sure is that there will be a different person in the Oval Office, and many people believe that will most likely benefit housing. According to a study commissioned by Move Inc. and conducted by Harris Interactive, 44 percent of the population believes the housing market will improve when the new U.S. president takes over. Because housing is cyclical, that's a fairly safe bet. (We are at least two years into a decline after a long upswing and the new president conceivably could have eight years to get it done). Some markets will take longer to recover, however, especially those in south Florida, southern Nevada, California's San Joaquin Valley and Phoenix-Scottsdale, Ariz. "Consumer confidence tends to rise whenev...